Your Value vs. Company Value

I might have negotiated differently if someone had talked me through the difference between company value and my value before I sold Estately (and not during the negotiation).

Your company is an asset that an acquirer is buying. Your time is a different asset the acquirer is (likely) buying as well.

Make sure you and your acquirer are discussing the price of each separately.

If you're selling your company, you and your investors are selling that asset. If the acquirer wants to hire you to grow the company for 3-4 years more, your time is a separate asset. It's an asset that belongs to you.

Obviously, it isn't quite this simple: A tech company is worth very little if you don't stick around to answer questions and train your replacement for a reasonable period of time. But that's maybe 60-90 days. After that, you're working for the acquirer.