Startup Acquisition Stories

Curious what a professional small startup acquirer cares about when scouting a business to purchase? There are a growing group of people who make a living out of acquiring growing startups and taking them to new heights. Pascal Levy-Garboua, founder of Noosa Labs is one of these experts. Pascal started Noosa after 20 years in tech – mostly startups. He sold his first chatbot more than a decade ago and later went on to become an early investor in Notion and other startups in SF. Pascal thought he wanted to become a venture capitalist, but he missed the thrill of building. He discovered business marketplaces like Acquire.com let him buy an already operational business and take it to the next level and was hooked. Now Pascal makes a living buying profitable growing startups and flipping them if they stall. He’s already acquired four and is always looking for a new purchase. Tune into Pascal’s interview with Andrew as they discuss: Pascal’s perfect acquisition targets on Acquire.com Why he prefers buying to investing His favorite startup he’s acquired The three things he likes all buyers should avoid like the plague Pascal is just getting started and you can follow his journey through the following links: https://x.com/2pasc https://www.linkedin.com/in/pascallevygarboua/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/noosa-labs/

What are the three biggest mistakes SME buyers make when choosing an M&A lawyer? M&A professional Eric Pacifici says new buyers often pick lawyers who: Aren’t entrepreneurial Bill hourly rather than flat rate Don’t have M&A experience After years of cementing billion-dollar deals at Kirkland & Ellis (the largest firm in the world by revenue), Eric decided he liked smaller deals better. He decided to jump into the world of small business acquisitions. Eric is well-known on the internet for his Twitter account (@smb_attorney) and for coining the term “silver tsunami” i.e.the coming wealth transfer between baby boomers and their offspring. He realized a few years ago that many of these boomers’ small businesses would be put up for sale in the coming years. To confront this coming wave of small acquisitions, Eric teamed up with a team of fellow lawyers from large firms with a passion for smaller deals to create SMB Law Group.  SMB Law today specializes specifically in entrepreneurship-by-acquisition deals. Those are deals where aspiring entrepreneurs get a running start by purchasing a fully functioning business. Business has been heating up. The firm did $950 million in closings just last year. Eric and SMB Law are fast becoming the go-to lawyers for people trying to buy small and medium-sized businesses in the US. This week, Eric hopped on the SASP with Andrew Gazdecki to discuss: Where Eric thinks most deals go wrong Why you need a good lawyer when buying a business for $1 million+ Andrew’s lawyer billing horror story Eric is just getting started and you can contact and follow him below: Eric@smblaw.group @smb_attorney (Twitter) LinkedIn

What’s the trick to buying offshore businesses as a US buyer? Bryan Digiorgio of 1840 & Company says buyers need to understanding two things: It requires a lot of documents and processes You need to get started with them as soon as possible because they’re sequential Bryan’s had a bit of experience on this topic, his main business today is setting up remote teams for other businesses in other countries. In the past, he worked as the global head of customer service for Sprint and built the direct precursors to Microsoft Teams. After previously buying a business on Acquire.com two years ago, Byan returned this year to buy a blockchain-based business, Swearit, from a group of founders in Spain. In the process, he got to experience Acquire’s new buyer advisory service. They helped him successfully transact with a seller who didn’t speak the same language. Listen to a special buy-side advice section as Bryan and Andrew discuss: How Bryan looks for promising business to buy on Acquire.com Why foreign businesses can be much more profitable in the US The number one trait for sellers on Acquire.com that attracts buyers Bryan has been doing entrepreneurship and M&A for a little while now. Follow his journey using the links below: https://www.linkedin.com/in/digiorgio/ https://x.com/1840andCompany

Selling your business to a buyer in the same country is tough. Imagine doing it across international borders. Miguel Diaz spent three years building Swearit, a blockchain-based authenticity verification platform. However, he realized that it could scale better in the hands of another founder so he looked for a place to sell. In Miguel’s opinion, most other startup marketplaces were too broad. You could sell anything from tech businesses to hotels. It was hard to say what buyers or valuations he could expect. When the team stumbled on Acquire.com, they were intrigued because it specialized in SaaS M&A. There was only one problem – none of them could speak much English. Still, Miguel and his team listed their business and were surprised to learn that two Acquire team members were fluent in Spanish.  Miguel received direct help in Spanish from Acquire’s president, Rosa Romaine and legal counsel, James Graves. With Acquire’s help, Miguel managed to obtain his dream exit within months. Post transaction, Miguel jumped on the podcast with Rosa and James to talk about his acquisition. Tune in to hear: How EU regulations are changing to monitor food quality Some of the cultural differences he encountered during M&A His favorite parts of the seller experience on Acquire.com Miguel is just getting started. Follow his journey with the links below: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miguel-d/ https://x.com/migueldiazes

Jeel Patel and his father built InvoiceOwl, an online invoicing tool for tradesmen like plumbers after Jeel noticed his family’s landscaper using an inefficient paper invoicing system. Three years later, they sold the company for six figures on Acquire.com. Listen to Jeel share his insights and learnings from running his startup to the acquisition process: How Jeel discovered there was still room in a niche with behemoth-sized competitors How Heel played the SEO game to build hype around InvoiceOwl What Jeel believes is the most important thing to include in your startup sales process ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Be sure to subscribe to see the newest acquisition stories every Tuesday and gain the knowledge to buy or sell your own online business → ⁠https://youtube.com/@acquiredotcom?sub_confirmation=1 ⁠ Want more stories? Access the past 50+ acquisition stories here → ⁠https://blog.acquire.com/tag/startup-acquisition-stories-podcast/ ⁠ Thinking about selling your own startup? The number one question is always 'how much can I sell for' and we've got the answers in our biannual valuation multiples reports here → ⁠https://blog.acquire.com/tag/acquire-coms-acquisition-multiples-report/⁠ Thinking about buying a startup? Sign up for a free buyer account and browse all the live listings. Upgrade only when you find the right one that fits your acquisition criteria to engage. Get Started → ⁠https://acquire.com/buyers/⁠ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Follow the Host: Andrew Gazdecki ⁠https://twitter.com/agazdecki⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/agazdecki/⁠ ⁠https://acquire.com⁠ Follow Acquire.com - ⁠https://twitter.com/acquiredotcom⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/acquiredotcom⁠ ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@acquiredotcom⁠ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ About Acquire.com: Acquire.com is the largest and most active acquisition marketplace for buying and selling online businesses. Acquire.com is the highest rated platform for both ease and quickness to match buyers and sellers. We cater to all types of online, revenue-generating businesses while producing the highest success rates for SaaS and eCommerce/DTC businesses in the M&A industry. Join over 500,000 entrepreneurs making life-changing connections and deals everyday.

Acquisition lawyer at Scale LLP, Doug Mitchell, recalls one of the closest calls he’s ever encountered while advising a sale. For this episode of SASP, Doug sat down with Andrew Gazdecki to discuss: What kinds of deals he does What lawyers normally manage in SME deals How much he charges for his retainer And what Doug does in his free time. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Be sure to subscribe to see the newest acquisition stories every Tuesday and gain the knowledge to buy or sell your own online business → https://youtube.com/@acquiredotcom?sub_confirmation=1 Want more stories? Access the past 50+ acquisition stories here → https://blog.acquire.com/tag/startup-acquisition-stories-podcast/ Thinking about selling your own startup? The number one question is always 'how much can I sell for' and we've got the answers in our biannual valuation multiples reports here → https://blog.acquire.com/tag/acquire-coms-acquisition-multiples-report/ Thinking about buying a startup? Sign up for a free buyer account and browse all the live listings. Upgrade only when you find the right one that fits your acquisition criteria to engage. Get Started → https://acquire.com/buyers/ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Follow the Host: Andrew Gazdecki https://twitter.com/agazdecki https://www.linkedin.com/in/agazdecki/ https://acquire.com Follow Acquire.com - https://twitter.com/acquiredotcom https://www.linkedin.com/company/acquiredotcom https://www.tiktok.com/@acquiredotcom ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ About Acquire.com: Acquire.com is the largest and most active acquisition marketplace for buying and selling online businesses. Acquire.com is the highest rated platform for both ease and quickness to match buyers and sellers. We cater to all types of online, revenue-generating businesses while producing the highest success rates for SaaS and eCommerce/DTC businesses in the M&A industry. Join over 500,000 entrepreneurs making life-changing connections and deals everyday.

Lebanese founder, Nour Shaaban just sold his SaaS business on Acquire.com for a life-changing sum. While he can’t reveal too many details due to his non-disclosure agreement (NDA), he agreed to hop on the SASP podcast to talk about his experience building and selling his business. Listen to Nour’s chat with Andrew as they discuss: The benefits of the Guided by Acquire process that can’t be found anywhere else How the Acquire.com experience compares to the old MicroAcquire experience Advice to other entrepreneurs trying to create a 7-figure exit ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Be sure to subscribe to see the newest acquisition stories every Tuesday and gain the knowledge to buy or sell your own online business → https://youtube.com/@acquiredotcom?sub_confirmation=1 Want more stories? Access the past 50+ acquisition stories here → https://blog.acquire.com/tag/startup-acquisition-stories-podcast/ Thinking about selling your own startup? The number one question is always 'how much can I sell for' and we've got the answers in our biannual valuation multiples reports here → https://blog.acquire.com/tag/acquire-coms-acquisition-multiples-report/ Thinking about buying a startup? Sign up for a free buyer account and browse all the live listings. Upgrade only when you find the right one that fits your acquisition criteria to engage. Get Started → https://acquire.com/buyers/ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Follow the Host: Andrew Gazdecki https://twitter.com/agazdecki https://www.linkedin.com/in/agazdecki/ https://acquire.com Follow Acquire.com - https://twitter.com/acquiredotcom https://www.linkedin.com/company/acquiredotcom https://www.tiktok.com/@acquiredotcom ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ About Acquire.com: Acquire.com is the largest and most active acquisition marketplace for buying and selling online businesses. Acquire.com is the highest rated platform for both ease and quickness to match buyers and sellers. We cater to all types of online, revenue-generating businesses while producing the highest success rates for SaaS and eCommerce/DTC businesses in the M&A industry. Join over 350,000 entrepreneurs making life-changing connections and deals everyday.

Luke Sheppard recently finished his bachelor’s degree at BYU with a little more spending money and work experience than most grads. He just sold his startup at 23 years old. While attending university to study business, Luke launched a company called Revive Ratings. It was a marketing SaaS targeted at insurance agencies. He sold it in just over two years on Acquire.com. To successfully launch his business, Luke took some big risks, like buying a one year $50,000 white-labeled software license while still pre-revenue. But Luke also had lots of help along the way. His professors and even his competitors were happy to take a young college student under their wing as he learned the ropes. After years of hard work and the help of the Acquire team, Luke managed to secure his dream exit and pave the road to many more to come. He’s already in the process of acquiring his next business on Acquire. Post acquisition, listen to a jam-packed new episode of Startup Acquisition Stories Podcast as Luke and Andrew discuss: The unfair advantage of launching a startup while in university Why insurance agencies make great sales targets How Andrew first discovered the idea behind his first successful startup, Bizness Apps The potential timeline delays from SBA Loan buyers Andrew’s college days as a young entrepreneur What Andrew Gazdecki would be doing right now if he wasn’t running Acquire Luke is just getting started and you can follow along on his journey here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheppluke/ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Be sure to subscribe to see the newest acquisition stories every Tuesday and gain the knowledge to buy or sell your own online business → https://youtube.com/@acquiredotcom?sub_confirmation=1 Want more stories? Access the past 50+ acquisition stories here → https://blog.acquire.com/tag/startup-acquisition-stories-podcast/ Thinking about selling your own startup? The number one question is always 'how much can I sell for' and we've got the answers in our biannual valuation multiples reports here → https://blog.acquire.com/tag/acquire-coms-acquisition-multiples-report/ Thinking about buying a startup? Sign up for a free buyer account and browse all the live listings. Upgrade only when you find the right one that fits your acquisition criteria to engage. Get Started → https://acquire.com/buyers/ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Follow the Guest: Luke Sheppard https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheppluke Follow the Host: Andrew Gazdecki - ⁠https://twitter.com/agazdecki​⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/agazdecki/​⁠ ⁠https://acquire.com⁠ Follow Acquire.com - ⁠https://twitter.com/acquiredotcom⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/acquiredotcom⁠ ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@acquiredotcom⁠ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ About Acquire.com: Acquire.com is the largest and most active acquisition marketplace for buying and selling online businesses. Acquire.com is the highest rated platform for both ease and quickness to match buyers and sellers. We cater to all types of online, revenue-generating businesses while producing the highest success rates for SaaS businesses in the M&A industry. Join over 500,000 entrepreneurs making life-changing connections and deals everyday.

In a moment of frustration, David Idol created his first successful Chrome extension, Computer Mouse for XCloud. In just a few short months, he was making $4,000 per month in revenue and he eventually sold his project for 5-figures. Here’s how it happened. David was working at Microsoft for Xbox Live when they launched XCloud, their cloud gaming application. It let players stream games from other devices like computers or phones.  But David noticed a problem. Gamers weren’t able to play games on their PCs without special controllers. He coded a Chrome extension letting gamers use their keyboards for games on the PC. He posted about it on Reddit and almost overnight acquired thousands of users. After three months, David added a one-time payment to access his product and reached $4,000 in monthly revenue and over 250,000 users. People around the world wrote him emails and reviews thanking him for the extension. He’d even made it easier for disabled people to enjoy Xbox games. But though Computer Mouse for XCloud was exploding in popularity, David didn’t feel he had time to keep adding features. He listed it on Acquire.com and eventually sold it to a promising buyer. Post sale, tune into this week’s episode of startup acquisition stories as David and Andrew discuss: How David went from hacking Xbox games to working for Microsoft Why David’s product name was great for traffic The dangers of potential buyers for Chrome extensions How to transfer ownership of Chrome extensions ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Follow the Guest: David Idol - https://twitter.com/DavidIdolize https://davididol.com/ https://photoarchiveapp.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/rdidol/ Follow the Host: Andrew Gazdecki -  https://twitter.com/agazdecki https://www.linkedin.com/in/agazdecki/ https://acquire.com Follow Acquire.com - https://twitter.com/acquiredotcom https://www.linkedin.com/company/acquiredotcom https://www.tiktok.com/@acquiredotcom ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ About Acquire.com: Acquire.com is the largest and most active acquisition marketplace for buying and selling online businesses. Acquire.com is the highest-rated platform for both ease and quickness to match buyers and sellers.  We cater to all types of online, revenue-generating businesses while producing the highest success rates for SaaS and eCommerce/DTC businesses in the M&A industry. Join over 350,000 entrepreneurs making life-changing connections and deals everyday.

What would you do if you were stuck in a cabin during an Icelandic snowstorm? Adam Senese and his brother came up with their Shopify app for product bundling, Linq Commerce, trapped in an Airbnb for the day during the dead of the Icelandic winter. The cofounders went home and launched Linq Commerce in early 2020 right as covid hit the world and people scrambled for new ways to make money online. It ended up being a record year for new Shopify stores. Within weeks, Adam and his brother had over 1,000 users on their app. Linq Commerce grew steadily from there, but after two years of building, Adam and his brother felt they weren’t the right owners to grow Linq to the next level. It was time to find a buyer. Adam listed on Acquire.com in late 2022 and sold to a promising buyer for five figures in six months. Post-acquisition, listen to Adam’s chat with Andrew Gazdecki as they discuss: Why Shopify apps are great for first-time SaaS founders How to find product market fit with any SaaS product The importance of goodwill between buyers and sellers Why sellers should start with a slightly lower asking price if they want a good sale price ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Follow the Guest: Adam Senese - https://linqcommerce.com/ (acquired) https://www.parallelchat.com/ (new startup) https://twitter.com/adamsenese https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamsenese/ Follow the Host: Andrew Gazdecki - https://twitter.com/agazdecki​ https://www.linkedin.com/in/agazdecki/​ https://acquire.com Follow Acquire.com - https://twitter.com/acquiredotcom https://www.linkedin.com/company/acquiredotcom https://www.tiktok.com/@acquiredotcom