Let's Click on It

Selling a company is complicated. Get advice from the founders of companies such as Qualtrics, Bonobos, and Chewy at inc.com/ exit-interview.

- GRAHAM WINFREY

Shortly after the sale of his second company,the communications hardware maker Acme Packet, which Oracle acquired for $2.1 billion in 2013–Andy Ory came to realize something about computer networks: They were built the wrong way. Originally designed to connect computers, they were now being used for running apps and services.

The very next year, Ory co-founded 128 Technology to fix that. Six years later, he began talks with Juniper Networks about acquiring 128. The challenge: His Burlington, Massachusetts, router company was now entirely remote. We asked him: What was it like trying to get to a handshake deal without actually being able to shake hands?