You’re living in the moment. You’re working tirelessly on your startup, trying to get it off the ground. But in the back of your mind is that tiny, hopeful thought: Maybe, just maybe, you could sell your company someday.

PluggedIn hosted a roundtable during which founders shared their exit stories and advice to fellow entrepreneurs.

Here’s what we learned.

Do successful entrepreneurs have the goal of selling or do they focus on building and maintaining the business?

You can’t think too much. Don’t think in terms of size—whether or not you’re building a small or large company. Instead, when you start something, create it with the goal of bringing value. Start it because you’ve spotted a problem in the marketplace that you’re frustrated by and want to solve. Or as Ron Gura, co-founder and CEO of Gifts Project, told us, “When you start something to bring value, you’ll have better chances than if you start something to make a transaction.” If you build it, they will come. And by “it” we mean a great product and company. If you’ve built something valuable, that will be recognized and someone will end up giving you a call.

Of course, it’s okay to dream. You wouldn’t be an entrepreneur if you weren’t a dreamer. But you need to always focus on what’s coming next—those short-term goals like landing your next client. Don’t think about the sell until the call comes in. That’s when it becomes your next short-term goal. Koby Menachemi, founder and CEO of Crossrider, had started seven companies that all failed. It got to the point in 2006 where he was living at his girlfriend’s parents’ house, was close to being broke when he started his company as a game. He developed it overnight and then realized there was a need in the market. His last thought was about an exit. There was some traction, some investors, and then some people approached to acquire the company after 18 months. The exit wasn’t a target in the beginning, but after the calls started coming in, Koby was entirely focused on selling the company. It closed within three weeks.

Because in order to success in the exit process, it does need to be a target at some point. Avichai Nissenbaum, co-founder of Yedda, recalled getting a call from Yahoo (YHOO) for a meeting. During the meeting there was bad news: Yahoo was developing a similar product called Yahoo Answers. But the good news was that they thought Yedda was great and more advanced in the process, so they offered to buy them. Unfortunately, that meant transferring out to California, something Avichai didn’t want to do. But then other people started to talk to them, Yahoo and Microsoft released similar products, and it became clear that the windows were closing in on them. And then it happened: the sale. So, as Avichai explained, “You have to capitalize when you see the signs. Be like a lion.” As the signs of selling arise, you need to jump and aim at your target. These things don’t just magically happen.

So how does an exit happen? How easy is it to sell a company?

There’s a statistic floating around that one out of every ten companies will be successful. Obviously, you just have to quickly build nine companies first, and then the tenth will sell. Okay, that’s a joke. But we’re serious about doing multiple things in order to find success. Dror Cedar, co-founder of Wibiya, told us about presenting at Tech Crunch after having built their company for two years. It wasn’t until the pitch that they suddenly realized that they had created A while everyone was telling them that they wanted B. So they went back to the drawing board, ditched the original product, and that’s how they created Wibiya. The average start-up makes 2.4 shifts. Your original company might just need to turn into something else. Don’t fall in love with your ideas.

Honestly, this is the most important ingredient: luck. The stars need to be aligned. The best thing that can happen for you is the right company with the right CEO with the right need looking at the right time. So in a way, these things do happen magically.

Part of luck is surviving the many mistakes that will happen. As Napoleon once said, “I’d rather have lucky generals than smart generals.” You have to figure out how to survive and roll with the punches. You have to control your own destiny.

Sometimes you’re going to look at another company and say, “Why not me? How come it was so easy for them?” Alright, from the outside, maybe it looks easy. But with every startup founder, no matter the company, you’re going to hear their struggles. Startups are roller coasters. You get on one because you want to enjoy the ride.

What is the most important thing to look for in a company during an acquisition?

There are two things actually: You have to show traction and you have to have people that acquirers think will be able to really work for them.

Bonus advice for entrepreneurs:

• Get a good mentor. He or she will be able to coach you and advise you how to shift.
• Be happy whenever you can. Whenever there’s something to celebrate, do it. Every small gain (your first customer, an employee’s birthday, it’s a Thursday) celebrate it. If you can do that, you’ll create a better company culture and always have good memories about building your startup, no matter what happens.
• Make success your only option. Success comes when you can’t imagine any other choice than building your startup. Every time you want to give up, it can’t be an option to fail—because you just can’t do anything else. The drive should be that strong.
• Remember that it’s both a journey and a team sport. And the team is not just your employees, but your investors too. Find the right investors, the ones who understand and truly support your business.
• Start doing things. Most of your assumptions are wrong, and the only way to learn is to start doing something and see what happens. So get out there and meet people. Don’t stay in the office all day just doing your own thing. Opportunities aren’t going to knock down your door.
• There are three things that will help you keep an employee. These are: fair pay, good atmosphere (both the workplace and the people), and a little bit of fun (so don’t take yourself too seriously). When you treat people with dignity and respect, they’ll treat you that way in return.

What are your favorite exit stories? What advice do you have for fellow entrepreneurs? Share in the comments!