Sean: And I know you mentioned that it took three years for you to turn over everything and for you to make sure that you're leaving on a good note, what hinted you that it's high time to do this now and then on the third year, what made you realize that? Okay, you can't wait any longer - you just have to do this?

David: Yes. So I would say that it was actually in the running you know, I was planning to do this for quite some time. And one of the things that I advocate to young people in their career, which I practiced, was observation and really studying the path ahead of you and determining whether that's a path that you want. As I mentioned earlier, you know, I wrote a book and I have a chapter in my book where I talk about this notion, of mapping the salt mine when you first join an organization. And it always surprised me how many people join a company, start a career, and don't really spend a lot of time understanding what their boss does or even their bosses boss does. And the reason why that is really shocking to me, is that if you're going to invest years, maybe potentially tens of years of your life in a company, don't you want to know where the career ends up? Like, don't you want to know what you're fighting for?

David: And so in my early thirties I started to plan out my own path and my career, and I decided that what I was going to do was I was going to squirrel away enough money so that by the time I hit 40, I would have the option to walk away or have the option to spend more time with my family if I wanted. And so my thirties were really all about maximizing my earnings potential and salting away as much savings as I could so that by the time I turned 40, I would be able to say, you know, this is not for me anymore and I want to do something else.

David: And so when I did turn 40, I finally hit the number that I was seeking in my bank account. I finally hit that hurdle rate that I needed to be able to walk away. And at that point, there were really no excuses for myself. It was like, okay, you got to that number. You saved enough money. You live a modest lifestyle. If you're going to stick around and potentially become that cliche, who is not around for their kids. Then you have nobody to blame but yourself. So at that point, I decided, you know what, I think it's really time for me to pursue something else in the second half of my life. And family is going to come, number one, and then entrepreneurship is going to come number two.

David: It took a full three years before we could find a replacement and I felt that the franchise was in good hands. But I have no regrets. I was able to leave on my own terms as well as leave on good terms with the firm. And I think that bears dividends throughout your career. And so I always advocate to people, if you're going to leave your company, try to leave on good terms because the world is a very small place and you never know when your past will cross again with the people that you worked with. And you never know when you'll need a good recommendation or suggestion on something - related to your career down the road.

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