Entrepreneurial exit as a critical component of entrepreneurial process does not gain enough attention from scholars. Most prior studies only examined the factors of entrepreneurial exit from the perspective of entrepreneurs, firms, industries, or macro-environmental factors, which ignored the influence of the founding family. This paper considers the founding family as a basic unit for aspiration analysis, examines the relationship between family aspirations and entrepreneurial exit, and tests the mediating role of an entrepreneur's rent-seeking behavior. The following conclusions are obtained. First, entrepreneurs and their families of startup businesses have multiple aspirations which include family wealth, family reputation, family harmony, and continuity of family line. Second, family aspirations attainment discrepancy has significant positive effects on entrepreneurial exit. A negative attainment discrepancy of family aspirations of financial wealth, reputation, and harmony results in a higher likelihood of entrepreneurial exit. On the contrary, there is a negative effect of negative attainment discrepancy of aspiration of continuity of family line on entrepreneurial exit. In addition, an entrepreneur's rent-seeking behavior mediates the relationship between family aspirations attainment discrepancy and entrepreneurial exit. When entrepreneurs do not achieve family aspirations, they are more likely to conduct rent-seeking activities. Under this circumstance, those rent-seeking activities which involve high cost and risk increase the entrepreneur's motivations to exit.