Hire your replacement.
Going through this exercise is one of the great learning experiences you can do as a founder-CEO.
Go out and find 2, 3, 10 candidates to replace you as CEO.
What’s you’ll probably learn is even the best of the 10 is risky. She is “worse” than you, not in experience (she’ll likely be far stronger), but in overall fluency in the market, customers, experience, etc.
Go through this exercise. Bring them in. Offer them the huge equity package and salary.
You’ll see in the end if you still want to get out of the game.
More often than not, your gut will tell you to stay in once you see the alternative.
But without finding that real world alternative — it’s just a distracting hypothetical.
