I didn't have plans for $20 million, ephemeral or real. I didn't have a number at all. But I think that's symptomatic of the problem. The problem seems to lie in the "suspension of reality" that exists for many entrepreneurial endeavors. I wasn't "in it for the money" when I started. I was trying to "change the world". I hadn't finished changing the world yet, so a buyout was only money to me. The correction of course, is to understand that your business is for the purpose of making money first and other things second. But its hard for most inventors to get motivated and work so hard for money. Its much easier to do it for a grander purpose. The problem is this "suspension of reality" bubble is hard to break once you've made it past the initial successes.

Do I have regrets? A little, but not overwhelmingly so. I have plenty in life to be thankful for. I put the lost money in the category of "yet another multi-million-dollar-MBA" I've earned ;).