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Jan 31, 2023 · 28m · startup-acquisition-stories

Startup Acquisition Stories wtih Ryan Kulp, Founder of Fork Equity

Ryan Culp · 19m spoken Andrew Gazdecki · 5m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of Startup Acquisition Stories, host Andrew Gazdecki interviews Fork Equity founder Ryan Kulp about his journey in micro-private equity, his criteria for evaluating solo-founder SaaS acquisitions, and his playbook for scaling and selling software businesses.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Andrew holds 20.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Andrew as informed peer 4.6 Guest teaching 3.0 Guest disagreement 0.6 Andrew pushing back 1.4
05100:0010:0020:001:35–4:46 · Andrew as informed peer 3/10 The First Acquisition and Origins of Fork Equity Andrew opens with a warm, open-ended question about Ryan's origin story. Ryan provides an extended narrative about transitioning from venture capital to buying his first Shopify app and forming Solstice Equity Partners, while Andrew listens supportively.4:46–9:54 · Andrew as informed peer 5/10 Deal Volume and Acquisition Evaluation Thesis Andrew demonstrates familiarity with Ryan's process by recalling his early feature request for tech stack filtering on MicroAcquire. Ryan educates on his acquisition thesis, detailing why solo founders and low-touch sales models make the best acquisition targets.9:55–14:37 · Andrew as informed peer 4/10 Favorite Acquisition Case Study: Cross-Sell Andrew prompts Ryan to discuss his favorite deal, leading to an in-depth breakdown of the Cross-Sell acquisition and resale to SureSwift. Ryan shares counter-intuitive operational insights about managing high-leverage product teams without coding or handling support tickets himself.14:38–18:44 · Andrew as informed peer 6/10 Speed Running an Acquisition via Build Sell 30 When Ryan implies MicroAcquire created the Build Sell 30 challenge, Andrew immediately clarifies and pushes back on the record that MicroAcquire was only a sponsor. Andrew then shares his side of facilitating and rapidly approving the late-night transaction.18:45–26:44 · Andrew as informed peer 5/10 The Story of MicroAcquisitions.com Course Andrew proactively sets the record straight regarding domain registration dates to dispel any notion of copying the microacquisitions name. Ryan explains the concept of simultaneous discovery in science and details how the educational course functions as an inbound deal flow channel.1:35–4:46 · Guest teaching 2/10 The First Acquisition and Origins of Fork Equity Andrew opens with a warm, open-ended question about Ryan's origin story. Ryan provides an extended narrative about transitioning from venture capital to buying his first Shopify app and forming Solstice Equity Partners, while Andrew listens supportively.4:46–9:54 · Guest teaching 4/10 Deal Volume and Acquisition Evaluation Thesis Andrew demonstrates familiarity with Ryan's process by recalling his early feature request for tech stack filtering on MicroAcquire. Ryan educates on his acquisition thesis, detailing why solo founders and low-touch sales models make the best acquisition targets.9:55–14:37 · Guest teaching 3/10 Favorite Acquisition Case Study: Cross-Sell Andrew prompts Ryan to discuss his favorite deal, leading to an in-depth breakdown of the Cross-Sell acquisition and resale to SureSwift. Ryan shares counter-intuitive operational insights about managing high-leverage product teams without coding or handling support tickets himself.14:38–18:44 · Guest teaching 2/10 Speed Running an Acquisition via Build Sell 30 When Ryan implies MicroAcquire created the Build Sell 30 challenge, Andrew immediately clarifies and pushes back on the record that MicroAcquire was only a sponsor. Andrew then shares his side of facilitating and rapidly approving the late-night transaction.18:45–26:44 · Guest teaching 4/10 The Story of MicroAcquisitions.com Course Andrew proactively sets the record straight regarding domain registration dates to dispel any notion of copying the microacquisitions name. Ryan explains the concept of simultaneous discovery in science and details how the educational course functions as an inbound deal flow channel.1:35–4:46 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The First Acquisition and Origins of Fork Equity Andrew opens with a warm, open-ended question about Ryan's origin story. Ryan provides an extended narrative about transitioning from venture capital to buying his first Shopify app and forming Solstice Equity Partners, while Andrew listens supportively.4:46–9:54 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Deal Volume and Acquisition Evaluation Thesis Andrew demonstrates familiarity with Ryan's process by recalling his early feature request for tech stack filtering on MicroAcquire. Ryan educates on his acquisition thesis, detailing why solo founders and low-touch sales models make the best acquisition targets.9:55–14:37 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Favorite Acquisition Case Study: Cross-Sell Andrew prompts Ryan to discuss his favorite deal, leading to an in-depth breakdown of the Cross-Sell acquisition and resale to SureSwift. Ryan shares counter-intuitive operational insights about managing high-leverage product teams without coding or handling support tickets himself.14:38–18:44 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Speed Running an Acquisition via Build Sell 30 When Ryan implies MicroAcquire created the Build Sell 30 challenge, Andrew immediately clarifies and pushes back on the record that MicroAcquire was only a sponsor. Andrew then shares his side of facilitating and rapidly approving the late-night transaction.18:45–26:44 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Story of MicroAcquisitions.com Course Andrew proactively sets the record straight regarding domain registration dates to dispel any notion of copying the microacquisitions name. Ryan explains the concept of simultaneous discovery in science and details how the educational course functions as an inbound deal flow channel.1:35–4:46 · Andrew pushing back 0/10 The First Acquisition and Origins of Fork Equity Andrew opens with a warm, open-ended question about Ryan's origin story. Ryan provides an extended narrative about transitioning from venture capital to buying his first Shopify app and forming Solstice Equity Partners, while Andrew listens supportively.4:46–9:54 · Andrew pushing back 0/10 Deal Volume and Acquisition Evaluation Thesis Andrew demonstrates familiarity with Ryan's process by recalling his early feature request for tech stack filtering on MicroAcquire. Ryan educates on his acquisition thesis, detailing why solo founders and low-touch sales models make the best acquisition targets.9:55–14:37 · Andrew pushing back 0/10 Favorite Acquisition Case Study: Cross-Sell Andrew prompts Ryan to discuss his favorite deal, leading to an in-depth breakdown of the Cross-Sell acquisition and resale to SureSwift. Ryan shares counter-intuitive operational insights about managing high-leverage product teams without coding or handling support tickets himself.14:38–18:44 · Andrew pushing back 4/10 Speed Running an Acquisition via Build Sell 30 When Ryan implies MicroAcquire created the Build Sell 30 challenge, Andrew immediately clarifies and pushes back on the record that MicroAcquire was only a sponsor. Andrew then shares his side of facilitating and rapidly approving the late-night transaction.18:45–26:44 · Andrew pushing back 3/10 The Story of MicroAcquisitions.com Course Andrew proactively sets the record straight regarding domain registration dates to dispel any notion of copying the microacquisitions name. Ryan explains the concept of simultaneous discovery in science and details how the educational course functions as an inbound deal flow channel.

speaking balance: gold is Andrew, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Andrew 19.8% · guest 80.2%0:00 · Andrew 19.8% · guest 80.2%3:00 · Andrew 24% · guest 76%3:00 · Andrew 24% · guest 76%6:00 · Andrew 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Andrew 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Andrew 34% · guest 66%9:00 · Andrew 34% · guest 66%12:00 · Andrew 18.7% · guest 81.3%12:00 · Andrew 18.7% · guest 81.3%15:00 · Andrew 13.3% · guest 86.7%15:00 · Andrew 13.3% · guest 86.7%18:00 · Andrew 31.6% · guest 68.4%18:00 · Andrew 31.6% · guest 68.4%21:00 · Andrew 0% · guest 100%21:00 · Andrew 0% · guest 100%24:00 · Andrew 45.7% · guest 54.3%24:00 · Andrew 45.7% · guest 54.3%27:00 · Andrew 6% · guest 94%27:00 · Andrew 6% · guest 94%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:10 Ryan rejects conventional enterprise sales playbooks

Ryan aggressively dismisses high-touch sales models and enterprise onboarding calls, stating that having phone calls and meetings all day defeats the purpose of being an entrepreneur and is no better than having a regular job.

 Hardest push from Andrew ▶ 15:23 Andrew corrects origin of Build Sell 30

Andrew firmly interrupts to correct Ryan's claim that MicroAcquire produced the hackathon, clarifying that it was community-organized and MicroAcquire merely sponsored it.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:10 Ryan breaks down solo-founder operational leverage

Ryan delivers a masterclass on why single-person SaaS businesses are superior acquisition targets, demonstrating how solo developers inherently create better customer support systems and knowledge transfer processes.

 Andrew holds their own ▶ 18:27 Andrew describes late-night marketplace operations

Andrew demonstrates hands-on marketplace mastery by recounting how he personally stayed up late to review and approve Ryan's NFT listing, validating marketplace liquidity in real time.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicAndrew as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementAndrew pushing backWhy
The First Acquisition and Origins of Fork Equity 3200 Andrew opens with a warm, open-ended question about Ryan's origin story. Ryan provides an extended narrative about transitioning from venture capital to buying his first Shopify app and forming Solstice Equity Partners, while Andrew listens supportively.
Deal Volume and Acquisition Evaluation Thesis 5410 Andrew demonstrates familiarity with Ryan's process by recalling his early feature request for tech stack filtering on MicroAcquire. Ryan educates on his acquisition thesis, detailing why solo founders and low-touch sales models make the best acquisition targets.
Favorite Acquisition Case Study: Cross-Sell 4310 Andrew prompts Ryan to discuss his favorite deal, leading to an in-depth breakdown of the Cross-Sell acquisition and resale to SureSwift. Ryan shares counter-intuitive operational insights about managing high-leverage product teams without coding or handling support tickets himself.
Speed Running an Acquisition via Build Sell 30 6204 When Ryan implies MicroAcquire created the Build Sell 30 challenge, Andrew immediately clarifies and pushes back on the record that MicroAcquire was only a sponsor. Andrew then shares his side of facilitating and rapidly approving the late-night transaction.
The Story of MicroAcquisitions.com Course 5413 Andrew proactively sets the record straight regarding domain registration dates to dispel any notion of copying the microacquisitions name. Ryan explains the concept of simultaneous discovery in science and details how the educational course functions as an inbound deal flow channel.

Statements from this episode (9)

Insight
Ryan Kulp: Writing code does not make a business a startup
“Just because you write code doesn't mean it has to be a startup. It doesn't mean it has to be stressful. It can just be a technology company.”
Ryan Culp Jan 31, 2023 ▶ 2:33
Disclosure
Ryan Kulp has completed between 10 and 20 software acquisitions
“Maybe 10 or 12. I think total deals like 20. We've started things that we've then sold. So that was like a deal, but not an acquisition because we were the creator and the seller. And then we've done things where we bought it and resold it. We've bought things…”
Ryan Culp Jan 31, 2023 ▶ 4:54
Opinion
Ryan Kulp prefers solo Rails apps over higher-revenue software teams
“I would almost favor an app built in rails run by one person than something that's like making more money and has a team because there's so many I'd say in between the lines pattern matching that you can do when certain parameters line up, at least in our in o…”
Ryan Culp Jan 31, 2023 ▶ 6:19
Insight
Ryan Kulp: Customer support overhead kills lifestyle software applications
“Customer support can be the ultimate killer if you're trying to build or buy lifestyle Applications.”
Ryan Culp Jan 31, 2023 ▶ 6:51
Disclosure
Fork Equity avoids high-touch sales to strictly target self-serve SaaS
“So for that reason, for my temperament, we avoid businesses that require high touch sales processes. We only are interested in businesses where people sign up and pretty much figure out how to use the product. On their own.”
Ryan Culp Jan 31, 2023 ▶ 8:07
Disclosure
Ryan Kulp never wrote code or answered support for Cross-Sell
“And with Crosssell, what I really liked about it is that I, and I'll admit this publicly for the first time right now, I never wrote a single line of code, and I think I never replied to a single customer support ticket.”
Ryan Culp Jan 31, 2023 ▶ 12:27
Assertion Supported
Ryan Kulp sold an NFT tracker on MicroAcquire within hours
“Within seconds, maybe just a couple minutes of listing, I got a few messages, and within a couple hours, the money was in the bank, and it was done at, like, three a.m. It was a very small deal, right? I think it was, like, 1750 dollars, maybe. That was my ask…”
Ryan Culp Jan 31, 2023 ▶ 16:53
Insight
Ryan Kulp: The best software acquisition deals are never publicly listed
“You always have to keep your deal flow sources. I would say agnostic. You have to be willing to look under every nook and cranny to find something. And sometimes the best deal is never going to be listed anywhere. It's going to be the right time, the right pla…”
Ryan Culp Jan 31, 2023 ▶ 17:54
Disclosure
Ryan Kulp's MicroAcquisitions course acts as a proprietary deal flow engine
“We've actually got at any given moment, a few deals in our inbox that are just there. You know, they're direct to us. They're not on marketplaces. They're unlisted. They're private deals just because microacquisitions exists.”
Ryan Culp Jan 31, 2023 ▶ 26:08
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