I was shocked when I read this news item on Friday:

“The 46-year-old man found dead in an Eagle house on Thursday morning was identified by the Ada County Coroner’s Office as Matthew Rissell, the former CEO of Idaho-based tech company TSheets. Late Thursday afternoon, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that Rissell’s death came after he shot a woman he knew, calling the incident an apparent “attempted murder-suicide.”

“Several sources told the Idaho Statesman on the condition of anonymity that the victim was his wife, Robin. Rissell died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the coroner’s report.”

How did Matt get to this point?

I had dinner with Matt and Robin one time in 2017 at a conference. I experienced him as an enthusiastic and successful entrepreneur who liked to win. He seemed to love his spouse and family that included three children. A year later, the dream was realized when he sold his business, TSheets to Intuit QuickBooks for $340M. Matt seemed to “have it all”. He soon after retired and invested in other companies.

How does a very successful entrepreneur  go from what is seen as the pinnacle of success to shooting his wife one evening then turning the gun on himself? Social media posts I found a few weeks before the incident show a happy life from both Matt and Robin.

Matt wrote on his profile “Family first! There is nothing more passionate than spending time my wife and three kids.”

No one will ever know the twisted rabbit hole that Matt went down that turned the end of his business success story into a nightmare. I pray for the future of Robin (who is currently in critical condition) and their children.

This sad chain of events demonstrates once again:

  1. While the dream of most entrepreneurs is to sell their business for a lot of money, it does not guarantee fulfillment or happiness afterwards.
  2. No one, I mean no one, really knows what goes on behind social media posts, closed doors and peoples’ lives. In this case, I am unable to even imagine what brought Matt to this action.

If you know someone who you suspect is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please have them call the suicide hotline- anytime: 800-273-TALK (8255)