Val Katayev tweets that he retired at age 32…
After building several successful companies in my 20s, I decided to sell two of them and hand over the CEO role of the remaining company to my co-founder.
I effectively retired to spend time with family.
Val also spent his retirement time…
- Driving his sports car around a racetrack
- Gardening
- Joining multiple boards
- Making some investments
- Putting on weight (not the good kind)
But he soon felt bored and unfulfilled 😔
I liked the free time but didn’t feel excited or motivated in life. Retirement removed my hustle and replaced it with comfort.
So the retirement lasted 3 years. (lol) I founded a company to lead as a full-time CEO once more.
His key takeaway from the experience…
Some of us just need that action to feel alive. It’s a different desire for everyone. Some just want to lay on the beach, others travel for life. For me it’s the everlasting curiosity of trying to build something.
A lot of us fantasize about achieving the entrepreneurial success Val did, being able to retire young and never needing to work again.
But lots of people who do that seem to struggle with retirement and end up back in the game again before too long.
All that to say: if you’re busy building a business right now, try to enjoy it. That could well be the very thing you miss someday.
Written by 
