I am looking for some case studies/strategies from people who have closed or tried to close a proprietary deal where they are dealing with an aging founder of a high growth company. In this particular instance, I have been talking to the owner of a business for 3-4 months, and I assumed he was interested because he flew directly to meet me within 2 weeks of my initial phone call. Fast forward, and I gave him a very strong offer with an earnout component to bridge the gap from reality to his expectations. Now he is playing hard to get (or is legitimately offended, I dont know), and I am trying to understand the best way to break through. I offered to fly down next week and speak with him directly, but he pushed back on that. Do I fly down anyways to build the relationship? Do I come back in a month or two? Build the relationship in some other way? Would love to hear from people who have crossed the chasm and tried multiple strategies to break through the last wall to closing. I really love this business so want to make something happen - and I have the advantage of dealing directly with an owner with no one else around the table.