Thomas Smale
Founder & CEO, FE International. On 2 shows, 2 appearances, plus 1 compilation re-air not counted. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
founderexecutiveauthor@ThomasSmale ↗LinkedIn ↗feinternational.com ↗
Thomas Smale is the founder and CEO of FE International, an M&A advisory firm specializing in SaaS, e-commerce, and digital media businesses. He has overseen hundreds of acquisitions totaling over $1 billion in transaction value since establishing the firm in 2010.
2shows
2appearances
29statements
1resolved
0supported
1contradicted
0%fully supported
Everything Thomas Smale said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
SaaS businesses below $1M ARR sell on net profit, not revenue
“So that will definitely apply where a business is doing over a million ARR, but on smaller businesses we deal with, so our average deal size is around 250,000. For deals at that level, there just isn't the scale, so buyers don't tend to pay a multiple of reven…”
ThriveCart Reached $1B GMV Selling Lifetime Deals Instead of Subscriptions
“The vast majority of their revenue is actually not SaaS. They had a SaaS product, but they sold it entirely one time. It was a lifetime license, and most people would think that's not a very good business, not a very good idea, but because they were monetizing…”
ThriveCart's Acquirer Publicly Announced the $35M Buyout as a Funding Round
“A thirty-five million dollar transaction the fund that acquired it, raised money, acquired Thrivecart as part of the deal, announced as a raise.”
Public Market Tech Downturns Do Not Affect $35M to $100M Acquisitions
“Public markets,
Yes, as a savvy founder, you should keep an eye on it, but it doesn't affect transactions at thirty five million dollars, or even a hundred million, to be completely honest.”
Smale: Selling a $20M business is fundamentally similar to a $1M deal
“And really the difference between selling a, Million dollar business and twenty million dollar business isn't really that different. It's slightly more technical. It takes a bit more time. It involves generally more attorneys and accountants and different thir…”
ThriveCart Processed Over $1B in Annual GMV at Exit
“Thrivecart at time of exit actually had over a billion dollars a year in GMV.”
ThriveCart's Buyer Tripled Revenue Just By Renegotiating Its Stripe Partnership
“My understanding is the buyer is about tripled revenue of the business by renegotiating a partnership agreement with Stripe.”
ThriveCart's Founder Chose Rapport Over Better Terms Among 11 Bids
“Out of, I think we had 11 offers on this business. Kevin was the one that won, and it wasn't necessarily because his terms were the best, it's because Josh liked Kevin.”
Smale: Buying a $10,000 Business Does Not Require Professional M&A Advice
“If you're buying something for 10,000 dollars, you don't need to hire a firm like us. You don't need professional advice.”
Smale: M&A broker fees start at 15% on small deals and scale down
“Fees generally on smaller transactions start at 15% and then tear down. So the bigger the business gets, the lower the fee you get to, and that really continues to tear up until you have a multi-billion dollar business. Fees will be even lower.”
Smale: Small businesses sell on profit multiples, not revenue
“For most small businesses, so probably everyone listening, you generally don't get a revenue multiple. There's a lot of misinformation out there around valuations, but revenue multiples are uncommon. You generally get a multiple of profit.”
Smale: Average small business sells for 4x to 10x annual profit
“Like the average small business is probably in the four to 10 times annual profit range.”
Smale: Buying Existing Businesses Eliminates Product and Willingness-to-Pay Risks
“But the variable you're never worrying about is, will someone pay for it? Because it already has an audience, and does the product work? Because again, it's already got people paying for it.”
Smale: Buyers Should Acquire Businesses Where Their Skills Complement the Founder
“Buy something where your skill set can add to it. You don't necessarily need to have the same skills as the founder. Ideally, you need to have slightly different skills.”
Low owner involvement increases SaaS valuation multiples, says Smale
“So a owner working 40 hours a week, who's a very technical owner who does all the programming themselves. That business is going to be worth Less in terms of multiple than a business where the owner works five hours a week and they're not doing anything techni…”
Sub-$500K SaaS businesses average 7% to 12% monthly churn
“Yeah, we usually see between seven and 12 would be the average we see for something in the maybe like half a million or below asking price range.”
ThriveCart Exited for $35M With a Team of Only Four People
“So even at exit, he only had a team of four people. Very small team.”
ThriveCart's Founder Paid Himself Over $1M Annually Before Selling
“He got to the stage. He was paying himself over a million dollars a year.”
Stripe's 100th Largest Partner Processes Roughly $1B Annually
“To be a top hundred partner of Stripe, The number a hundred process is about a billion a year. So the perspective they're about a top, top 100 strike partner.”
ThriveCart Settled for 70% Upfront Cash After Its Acquirer Offered 20%
“The seller wanted a hundred percent cash, buyer wanted 20%. We met somewhere in the middle at 70%.”
Smale: In 2010, no M&A firms or brokers serviced online businesses
“There was no M&A firms that did this. There were no business brokers. If you had a really big business, you couldn't call a big investment bank because they wouldn't return your phone call. So very much offered a service that no one else did, and really built …”
Smale: Direct Email Outreach Is the Best Way to Source Business Acquisitions
“The best way to find potential deals is email people, reach out.”
Smale: Investors back small repeatable track records over theoretical plans
“Investors are much more likely to work with people who can show a track record. Even if the track record is small, if you can show, Hey, look, look how many times I've turned. 10,000 dollars into 20,000.”
One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Thomas's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 STARTER STORYLEDGER | Founder & CEO, FE International | 1 | 11 | 0% 0/1 | full record on Starter Story → |
 TOP FOUNDERSLEDGER | Founder & CEO, FE International | 1 +1 | 18 | — | full record on Top Founders → |