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40 Comments

We said NO to an offer to acquire our business for 50,000 EUR.

Hey 👋🏻

We got an email and an offer from some company to acquire our newly founded SaaS for 50k EUR. It's nice but it's not a life-changing amount.

We didn't consider acquisition at this point, so I just responded with a counter offer of 500k and they said it's too much. I expected this.

We didn't want to sell because we first showed our product to public in mid-November and got 60 signups already. We didn't have a chance to even introduce payments yet. And we actually believe it is a good product with potential to grow reasonably big. We think we can make 50k MRR in 2-3 years from now if we stay consistent.

What is your opinion on this? Did you have similar experience? Would you do the same or the complete opposite?

  1. 5

    Right decision. 50k sounds a lot early on, but that's only about 4 months of a contract developer.

    1. 1

      Exactly. Having 50k is better than not having it but when you calculate the hours spent on the product it's definitely worth more.

      Thank you :)

      1. 1

        You can calculate how much time you have in the project but that isn't really equal to any kind of currency. Until you start making money your time is 0$. Did you make the right decision only the future can tell but until then "money is money".
        (Even if you can freelance 50$ an hour that is different than doing it for urself don't forget that. A lot of people here forget about it.)

        1. 1

          True, until we start making money this is just a nice product that we believe in and put time to build and market. I agree that this is completely different from the situation when someone places an order to build software for them. Then you can easily calculate the value of such project.

  2. 2

    The fact you didn’t get rid of it for some immediate cash shows your invested in this, so its the right decision by yourself. It’s fantastic to know that it has a saleable value so early on.

    You’re killing it 🤌🏽

    1. 1

      Thank you. I’m also very happy that someone already thinks it’s worth acquiring.

  3. 2

    Sounds like a scam email to me...

    1. 2

      We thought about it and it may be truth. But I found the guy who send this email on LinkedIn and Twitter. It seem like he's been involved in some online products.

  4. 2

    What if they said 250K to 300K range? Middle ground between 50k and 500k?

    1. 2

      Im not sure. We would talk about it with my co-founder. It would sound more reasonable. But on the other hand, yesterday I got so much support and encouragement on reddit that I think I would still say no.

      1. 1

        Reddit community give honest feedback. That's why they are amazing.

        1. 2

          True. I got some harsh feedback as well. But it's fine, it helps you learn to stand your ground.

  5. 2

    Good decision. I have no experience of this but from what I'm reading, I think it's too early in your journey and as you say not a life changing amount. You believe in your product so back yourselves and see what you can achieve.
    Probably better than taking €50k and thinking what if?

    1. 2

      Totally agree with @FizzyD. If you're going to continue to learn and hone your indie hacking skills AND potentially make more significant money, why give up the product at this point? I think it takes courage to back yourself. Bravo!

      1. 1

        Thank you guys! I appreciate it. We actually discussed it with my co-founder and agreed that we would consider 500k. But we believe in this product and we enjoy working on it and it's just the beginning so it would kinda suck to let it go now.

  6. 1

    Umm, which product of yours is that?

  7. 1

    Well done. I have been offered to buy wickedtemplates.com around four times.

    They offered "a couple of thousands" I always respond $1 million:

    One person even wanted to buy it together with wickedblocks.dev, also for a couple of thousands.

    Is not what is is, but what it can be. I think you did right.

    1. 1

      Exactly, thanks for sharing. I think your product also has a potential. If you’re willing to put in work and time you will add a lot of value over time.

      1. 1

        the thing is that is already making money.

        you can see it here wickedtemplates.com/open

        bit a bit bit I guess

        1. 2

          Great job! Congratulations.

  8. 1

    Turn the table on them and use it as a fundraising opportunity if and only if you were looking to raise money. Ask them to invest the $50k for a piece of the business (with whatever valuation you agree to) . Never let a good opportunity go to waste.

    1. 2

      Tbh we can quite easily raise this amount from much better source. We don’t really want to raise any money right now. If we were to choose we would try to raise from something like Y combinator. Their network and knowledge would be super valuable.

  9. 1

    If you are not a engineer, like the buyer, the offer is less than the code would cost from hired engineers. Yet code is not valuable without customers. Some buyers know there are engineers who do a reasonably good job, but never will be able to market the product. A common problem. So if you are a buyer, why not make multiple offers each week? Maybe you will get lucky.

    1. 1

      True. That’s the game of numbers like everything.

  10. 1

    Absolutely agree with the decision. If you believe in this product and know how to grow it and it has potential, 50k seems like a ridiculously small amount.
    But of course it depends on your goals and ability to work on this product.

    1. 2

      Yeah, we are working almost full-time on this product right now so I believe it will get big :)

  11. 1

    I think it may be just a joke or competitors testing you ! You launched just half of the month with few signups ! I'll take it definitely (if it's real) or at least get a skype appointment with them to see who they are, then decide later.

    1. 1

      I would say it was a real thing. And 50k is too little. The code itself is worth more. We have almost 80 users and some marketing assets as well.

  12. 1

    I read this already on Reddit. I appreciate your decision. Hope so you will reach desired milestone soon.

    1. 2

      Thank you. The post on reddit really blew up. I didn't expect that tbh.

      1. 1

        Yeah, mate. That's great.

  13. 1

    What is your product about, what type of software services you provide?

    1. 1

      It's www.raport.pro.

      It's a SaaS that allows integrating data from multiple sources and displays it in one dashboard. By data sources I mean: G. Analytics, Stripe, Search Console etc.

      1. 1

        I was also planning to make a Analytics tool for ecommerce merchants. Does this has potential to grow and scale?

        1. 1

          I believe it has potential to grow. The market is big and still growing. And there are companies with money in this market.

  14. 2

    This comment was deleted a year ago.

    1. 1

      It was just an email. It said "Our offer is 50 000 EUR cash payment. This is a generous offer and we can make the deal quick and hassle free."

      So in your definition it was definitely the start of a conversation, not a proper offer.

      1. 3

        This comment was deleted a year ago.

        1. 2

          I guess they wanted to treat us like a cheap software house. And from what I found in their LinkedIn etc. I don't think they have a similar vision for this product.

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