Today I said no to a $500,000+ offer for my bootstrapped SaaS. Here's why: Was talking to a buyer, and had a Letter of Interest on the table. In the spirit of build-in-public I want to share my reasoning after days of soul-searching:
1. I don't have pressure to sell. As bootstrapper I have no investors, don't need an exit, have been paying myself from profit and have no money problems.
2. I don't want to run Stagetimer forever, but I have another 1-2 years in me. I want to learn the skills that only a $10k+ MRR B2B business can teach me.
3. I still have plans for Stagetimer (product, marketing, pricing) that I still want to try. I think they can move the needle for growth and revenue.
4. The opportunity cost of continuing Stagetimer is negative. I have a long list of other ideas, but none that I'm sure will outperform Stagetimer dollar-for-dollar right now.
5. Simple math shows that continuing to run and grow Stagetimer for a few more years, even on a small time budget, is worth more to me than the offer.
6. The conversations showed me what metrics sellers focus on. Now I know how to make Stagetimer more valuable and attractive than it currently is. Anyway, my goal is to sell for at least $1M! After taxes! So now back to shipping!
@_lhermann you could have told it to my face
@_lhermann right decision, only up from here
@dqmonn 💪
@_lhermann That's a nice approach, Lukas. Definitely needs clarity saying no to such an amount Curious to see how you take Stagetimer from here :)
@gouthamjay8 Just as curious myself 😄
@_lhermann Lambo too late
@_lhermann honestly, keep growing it for a higher payout in 1-2 years not many people get to market fit like this that being said, not sure what the TAM on this is
@PhongGT I have a rough estimate of my TAM, but don't want to share
@_lhermann If you have momentum, keep going without selling. There are totally different skills you'll learn going from $10k to $100k to $100k+ MRR, especially if you need to build a team.
@virgilci You get it 🤝
@_lhermann Great thread. Thanks for sharing
@Dezzymei Thanks Robert 😄
@_lhermann Thanks for sharing. A useful tool I learn is to divide new MRR by churn to see what your max MRR will be. It allows you to predict growth into the future. So if your new MRR is $2000 and your churn is 5%, you’ll get to $40,000 MRR.
@oky_sabeni Yup, I have a table keeping track of that. Calling it the churn ceiling.
@_lhermann That's insane, you'll regret it. That app is way too niche.
@KingRomstar I may, that's a real risk. But I have a lot of big name clients, it's less niche than you think.
@_lhermann I'll be happy to take over ST for you when you're ready to move on 😂
@Changethursday I'm interested to add you to my professional network. 😂
@_lhermann Based decision. Kudos.
@_lhermann Awesome Lukas, thanks for sharing the decision and your thoughts on it.
@shakalandy Thanks Andreas 😄
@_lhermann Yeah! Keep going. Never sell!!! 🚀👨🚀🍻
@shanelatenight1 HODL 🙌💎
@_lhermann #buildinpublic is still alive thanks to tweets like these. Thanks for sharing
@Fer_MOMENTO ❤️