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Episode

Episode 827 | The Founder's Guide to Selling Your SaaS for What It's Actually Worth

Podcast
Startups For the Rest of Us
Published
Apr 7, 2026
Duration seconds
2417
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Summary

Selling a B2B SaaS company requires active preparation rather than waiting for an inbound offer. Einar Vollset explains how to navigate the shift toward private equity buyers and avoid leaving massive value on the table.

Topics

  • B2B SaaS
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Private Equity
  • ARR
  • Company Valuation
  • Startup Exit Strategy
  • Venture Capital
  • Entrepreneurship

Highlights

  • Main idea: The myth that 'startups are bought, not sold' often stems from misaligned VC incentives that discourage timely exits
  • Failure mode: Running a business past its peak growth rate can shift your buyer pool from high-multiple strategics to low-multiple value investors
  • Practical takeaway: Creating competitive tension through a structured auction process can increase initial offers by 30% to 300%
  • Main idea: In the current market, private equity firms have moved down-market, making them dominant players in the $2M-$20M ARR range
  • Practical takeaway: Focus on maintaining growth rates above 25% to attract premium multiples and avoid being relegated to 'turnaround' buyers

Chapters

  1. 4:10 The M&A Guide for B2B SaaS: Introduction to Einar Vollset's guide for founders managing companies between $2M and $20M ARR.
  2. 7:00 Maximizing Exit Value: How structured processes and targeting strategic buyers can prevent founders from leaving money on the table.
  3. 10:10 The Risks of Poor M&A Advisory: The danger of being handed off to junior representatives after signing a Letter of Intent.
  4. 13:10 Deconstructing the 'Bought, Not Sold' Myth: Why the belief that you shouldn't actively seek buyers is often driven by VC interests rather than founder interests.
  5. 19:10 The Impact of Growth Decay on Valuation: How declining growth rates fundamentally change your buyer profile and destroy valuation multiples.
  6. 37:00 The 25% Growth Threshold: Understanding the correlation between annual growth percentages and the multiples offered by strategic buyers.