How much money do you want? What’s your life like now? What did you spend it on? How much do I need?
It’s all so vulgar. The Brits are good at making a taboo out of money discussions, and for good reason: most people in the UK are struggling financially, or feel that they are.
But if you are in the exceptionally fortunate position of owning a valuable business, there are few people you can talk to about money (excepting wealth advisors who have their own agenda), yet this can be extremely valuable information that might change your course of action.
Instead we talk about “strategic options”, “de-risking” and “founder liquidity”. Or we talk about our “passion for people/solving problems/changing the world” being most important, and if it makes money on the side, that’s just a nice to have.
For an amusing read on this topic, try How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis. Chapter 1 is literally a guide to what “rich” means.
I meet bootstrapped founders who started with nothing, didn’t come from privilege, and for whom a few million pounds is a fortune. But a quick look at the Henry forum on Reddit will show you that even millionaires are rarely happy with what they’ve got.