For most founders, the most festive moment in their start-up journey will be the capital raise announcement. Venture capital firms are almost unique in celebrating the buy in, and such investments are often accompanied by gushing praise for the start-up’s founders.

This narrative makes selling down a tricky endeavour, open to misinterpretation that risks eroding that VC’s reputation as a true believer. However, missing the exit window has frequently turned a spectacular start-up gain into catastrophic failure, sometimes in very public circumstances.