Most founders face a feeling of loss after selling their business, and the journey of transition and reinvention can be emotionally complex. When you run a company, being the founder is a bit part of who you are. I conducted research interviewing founders who had successful exits and uncovered something I did not expect at all. Exit advisors help founders push up the valuation, structure the deal, handle the tax and hand the operations over cleanly. What we don’t realize is that a business exit also represents loss — loss of identity and loss of something you had which you no longer do.