People, every show

Dirk Sahlmer

Partner, FE International. On 1 show, 1 appearance. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.

investorexecutivefounderauthorengineerLinkedIn ↗saas.wtf ↗

After transitioning from mechanical engineering and founding a SaaS startup, Sahlmer spent nearly six years leading deal origination at serial acquirer saas.group, helping close roughly 20 acquisitions. Today, he advises tech founders on sell-side exit processes at FE International and authors the SaaS analysis newsletter saas.wtf.

What they said7 Shows1

Everything Dirk Sahlmer said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.

ACQUISITION STORIES Disclosure

Sahlmer: saas.group targets horizontal software companies with $1M to $10M ARR

“So, so our focus is on, on businesses between one to ten million ARR. So that's our revenue sweet spot. Apart from that, we are looking for more horizontal businesses rather than vertical niche businesses. But apart from that, we are very open to different kin…”

Dirk Sahlmer Apr 19, 2022 ▶ 3:05 Startup Acquisition Stories with Dirk Sahlmer - M&A Manager at saas.group

ACQUISITION STORIES Disclosure

Sahlmer: SaaS Group allows founders to sell 100% or phased majority

“With us, they have all of the flexibility so they can decide whether they want to sell a hundred percent or maybe a majority first and the rest down the road. So we, yeah we structured the deal as it fits best for the founder's life situation and preferences”

Dirk Sahlmer Apr 19, 2022 ▶ 5:36 Startup Acquisition Stories with Dirk Sahlmer - M&A Manager at saas.group

ACQUISITION STORIES Assertion Not checkable as stated

Sahlmer: Bootstrapped SaaS companies were historically too small for traditional PE

“And back then there were not many options for them because often these businesses are too small for, or were too small for strategic acquirers or traditional private equity firms.”

Dirk Sahlmer Apr 19, 2022 ▶ 1:13 Startup Acquisition Stories with Dirk Sahlmer - M&A Manager at saas.group

ACQUISITION STORIES Assertion Supported

Sahlmer: SaaS Group Has Acquired Seven Businesses

“So in the meantime, we've acquired seven businesses.”

Dirk Sahlmer Apr 19, 2022 ▶ 2:45 Startup Acquisition Stories with Dirk Sahlmer - M&A Manager at saas.group

ACQUISITION STORIES Disclosure

Sahlmer: saas.group prefers targets where ambitious founders remain post-acquisition

“I mean, we prefer if founders stay on board, at least for a certain period post transaction. So the perfect target would probably be a founder that is still ambitious, but identified some bottlenecks or yeah, sees that his or her skillset is somewhat limited, …”

Dirk Sahlmer Apr 19, 2022 ▶ 4:23 Startup Acquisition Stories with Dirk Sahlmer - M&A Manager at saas.group

ACQUISITION STORIES Assertion Not checkable as stated

Sahlmer: saas.group acquired Rewardful 18 months after their initial conversation

“I mean, the latest one is, for example, a Rewardful. I really liked the two founders, and it was one of my first conversations I had when I started my job at SAS Group. And we acquired them one and a half years later.”

Dirk Sahlmer Apr 19, 2022 ▶ 8:39 Startup Acquisition Stories with Dirk Sahlmer - M&A Manager at saas.group

ACQUISITION STORIES Assertion Not checkable as stated

Sahlmer: saas.group executed almost all its pandemic-era acquisitions entirely over Zoom

“Also with Git Tower I think this was the only founder I met in person because when I started my job the pandemic hit us. So all of the companies we acquired in the meantime were over Zoom.”

Dirk Sahlmer Apr 19, 2022 ▶ 9:03 Startup Acquisition Stories with Dirk Sahlmer - M&A Manager at saas.group

One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Dirk's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.

Show	Role there	Eps	Statements	Record
ACQUISITION STORIESLEDGER	Partner, FE International	1	7	100% 1/1	full record on Startup Acquisition Stories →