[compay]

"I'll stand up and say I'd happily take a $40m pay out so that I could be completely financially secure and get to do what I want."

I agree. Just because you cash out doesn't mean you have to retire.

[qeorge]

Just because you cash out doesn't mean you have to retire.

Exactly. You put it perfectly succinctly. A big exit should be a beginning, not an end.

[tonystubblebine]

Are people sure that the principals at 37s haven't just taken $40M out of earnings? Selling your company isn't the only way to get paid.

[pyre]

Does 37signals even make $40M in revenue?

[tonystubblebine]

Maybe. How many paying customers do you think they have? 1k? 10k? 100k?

I think $40M/year for them would require somewhere between 30k and 50k paying customers.

I suppose we're all just guessing, but when I run the numbers on their business I think that the founders are already millionaires, are on their way to being 100-millionaires, and, when you take into account that when you don't gamble your money away it has a tendency to accumulate and compound, that their model could produce a billionaire over a 20 or 30 year period.

I don't ever read their writing and think that they're jealous of other people's exits. I think they're already filthy rich and they look down on the venture industry in the same way that Warren Buffett looks down on Wall Street.

[fizx]

DHH's car says so:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/symmetricalism/2860363997/

;)

[jgrahamc]

Reminds me of a great Alain de Botton quote: http://twitter.com/alaindebotton/status/2781110491