The Elephant in the Room: Life After the Deal

The deal that lands on the front page is only the beginning of the story. To close the day, two founders who recently sold their companies get honest about what never makes it into the press release — the parts of an exit that only make sense in hindsight. Bryn Jones sold PartnerStack to AppDirect and stayed on to build inside a fast-moving roll-up, arguing he sold not because the market was tough but because it was the biggest partnership he could build. Kazi Ahmed sold Carbon6 to SPS Commerce in one of Canada's largest software exits — then, engineered a buy-back of what he had built a year later at a fraction of the price—two very different realities on the other side. This candid conversation digs into when to sell and when to hold, what actually changes the day after you sign, and how founders think about building something enduring rather than merely sellable.

Session Focus:

• Building to sell vs building to last
• What actually changes the day after you sign
• Staying, leaving, and the founder second act