by Peter Hermann, an EO Nashville member and co-founder and CIO of BreatheAware

Shortly after Belmont Software Services made the INC 1000 list in 2011, one of my firm’s key business development channels dried up. By mid-2013 I had made a good dent in developing new growth areas, but it was happening too slowly. That fall, I accepted a buy-out deal that wasn’t everything an entrepreneur hopes for in an exit.