@ayan_bandyopadhyay Hey, Ayan! My team and I really could've used something like this back when we were in YC... What kinds of multiples are you guys seeing for SaaS right now?

Hi @mkrupprecht , that's the golden question! For "lifestyle" SaaS aka one that's generating cash flow and growing 0-50% per year, financial buyers are paying 1-5x on ARR or 2-7x on EBITDA. It tends to cluster on the low to medium end of the ranges, we rarely see multiples on the high end. I know those ranges are still broad but it's difficult to be more specific without knowing the financial and operational details of a company. Something as innocuous as where its employees live can add or subtract a turn from the multiple. For growth SaaS, it varies wildly as strategics are often the only viable type of buyer and they generally don't price based on multiples.

@ayan_bandyopadhyay Congratulations ! Are buyers limited in US markets ?

@aris_nakos Nope, we have buyers all over the world. Most of our sellers are based in the U.S. though.

@ayan_bandyopadhyay > Marketplaces like Flippa and Acquire are great for selling businesses under $1m, but not so great for maximizing your exit. How are you actually different from Flippa and Acquire?

@bradley_justice There are two reasons for the retainer fee. First, it tends to filter out founders who aren’t seriously considering being acquired. Same reason why it’s a good idea to charge upfront for a SaaS product, it helps you focus on your most serious customers. Second, it helps cover our costs as we run an anonymous sales process for your business.

Thanks @orchyan!

Thanks @german_merlo1 ! Appreciate your support

@jagath_vytheeswaran Two main differences: 1. Acquire.com is a marketplace where you post your listing and get inbounds through their network; Dealwise is a full service M&A advisor that runs an anonymous sales process to targeted strategic and financial buyers in addition to getting you inbound leads. 2. Acquire is optimized for micro-saas, not for larger businesses. For example, when you create a listing on Acquire you have to include your price expectations. This is great for getting a deal done quickly but it removes any negotiating leverage. On the other hand, at Dealwise we have buyers name their price first so that you keep your leverage around price expectations as long as possible.

Thanks @lucaslunzmann!

@kamil_kisielewicz Great question! We use AI for two things that previously could not be automated: 1. Compiling a list of buyers. In order to put together a list of buyers for a business, you need to understand what the business does and then identify competitors and companies with adjacent products. You can do this manually but it's easy to miss potential acquirers. Instead, we use a semantic + keyword search to identify acquirers with human review at the end. 2. Reaching out to buyers. When you reach out to a buyer you need to communicate the acquisition thesis, or the reason why making the acquisition will provide value to the buyer. For example, a CRM company might want to acquire a lead enrichment company in order to cross-sell to the same customer base -- sales teams. The acquisition thesis varies from one buyer to another, so using AI to personalize outreach can do a much better job than simple email templates. By combining AI automation and human review, we get the best of both worlds: faster turnaround times and more comprehensive outreach. That being said, we've found that there are some steps that cannot be automated, such as negotiation and closing. For the later stages of the deal, you'll be working entirely with a human M&A advisor, so there is a services component to our offering.

@alex_dulub When working with Dealwise, your company remains anonymous until you decide to engage with a buyer. We handle most of the outreach, thereby eliminating the risk of employees discovering the process or diminishing leverage in future negotiations.

@gabe_villasana Dealwise specializes in SaaS startups, but we work with any promising companies.

Thanks @moon10!

Thanks for the support @alberttai