Yes, identity crisis. If your identity for the last 10 years has been too tied to your role at work, it can leave you in a state of crisis (identity diffusion) when it's gone [1]. In a founder's mind, your identity/self-image can become almost indistinguishable from your company, unless it was solid to begin with. And when your identity has been bound too tightly to an external thing -- and the external thing is gone -- it uncorks a big gaping void of unresolved issues that's been masked all those years. You've likely been acting in accordance with your projected identity -- your persona, your artificial/false-self, your source of pride -- and now that it's gone, your underdeveloped ego (your true self) is left in a state of crisis, caught in a whirlwind between your base impulses (your id) and who you think you should be (your super-ego) [2]. When you recognize what's going on inside and reconcile the two, the turmoil will subside and your reasoned, authentic self will emerge.
Yes, identity crisis. If your identity for the last 10 years has been too tied to your role at work, it can leave you in a state of crisis (identity diffusion) when it's gone [1]. In a founder's mind, your identity/self-image can become almost indistinguishable from your company, unless it was solid to begin with. And when your identity has been bound too tightly to an external thing -- and the external thing is gone -- it uncorks a big gaping void of unresolved issues that's been masked all those years. You've likely been acting in accordance with your projected identity -- your persona, your artificial/false-self, your source of pride -- and now that it's gone, your underdeveloped ego (your true self) is left in a state of crisis, caught in a whirlwind between your base impulses (your id) and who you think you should be (your super-ego) [2]. When you recognize what's going on inside and reconcile the two, the turmoil will subside and your reasoned, authentic self will emerge.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_crisis
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id,_ego_and_super-ego