Why I Decided to Take the Money and Sell My Startup The founder of 2-year-old digital card startup GiftZip.com decided to sell to gift-card behemoth SVM. He shares his views on the dangers of not doing the math.

Groupon's snubbing of Google's $6 billion purchase offer was an eye-opener for me. At the time, I was split between the prospects of selling my bootstrapped internet startup to a much larger firm, or taking on outside capital to grow and compete.

I ended up selling after 24 months of operation--much earlier than many friends and colleagues expected. I sold for a price that I describe as "I don't have to work for a while, but I will have to work again someday." It was certainly short of anyone ever knowing my name. People ask me why I sold so soon. The answer is simple: math.