The Dos And Don'ts Of Selling Your Company

A panel of three investors offered up their dos and don'ts on how entrepreneurs should sell or say goodbye to their companies during a key panel at the RiseUp summit on Saturday night.

"There are different challenges for each stage of a company's life cycle, and you have to realise when you have to let go," said Abdulaziz Al Loughani, former managing partner of Talabat.com. "Make sure you're always ready for an exit, and always have the right resources, the right matrix and focus on the business." The key is to surround yourself with people smarter than you are, Abdulaziz added, but don't fool yourself with rosy pictures if your hard work doesn't translate into profits.

Look at the rest of the world when you're exciting, advised Khaled Ismail, founder of Kiangel. "A lot of people think the entrepreneur is a robot, and in all the literature a very important thing is ignored - the emotional part. It's a tough journey ... to get to success and let it go," Ismail said, comparing the process to losing a child when they grow up and get married. An entrepreneur has to be emotionally strong to let go of their company, he noted.

Henri Asseily, managing partner at Leap Ventures, advised entrepreneurs to raise money whenever they can, because you never know what may happen in the future. "Surround yourself with awesome people," he said. "The bigger you grow, the more you need to have people carry the company."