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Jun 6, 2022 · 19m · startup-acquisition-stories

Startup Acquisition Stories with Tim Schmidbauer - Co-Founder of Inlytics

Tim Schmidbauer · 11m 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 SaaS Acquisition Stories, host Andrew Gazdecki interviews Inlytics co-founder Tim Schmidbauer about building a LinkedIn analytics platform and navigating buyer vetting, valuation realities, and due diligence to complete a six-figure exit via MicroAcquire.

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 28.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Andrew as informed peer 4.2 Guest teaching 1.8 Guest disagreement 0.2 Andrew pushing back 0.0
05100:0010:000:24–5:05 · Andrew as informed peer 2/10 Inlytics Overview and LinkedIn Market Problem The conversation is entirely collaborative and friendly. Andrew asks standard introductory questions while Tim praises MicroAcquire's platform structure.5:07–9:02 · Andrew as informed peer 5/10 Filtering Buyer Inquiries and Qualification Strategies Andrew offers actionable advice on vetting potential buyers by making them qualify themselves, which aligns smoothly with Tim's experience with XO Capital.9:02–11:58 · Andrew as informed peer 7/10 Startup Valuation Dynamics and Seller Advice Andrew demonstrates strong domain expertise regarding SaaS valuation metrics, explaining why high revenue multiples are typically reserved for companies at scale.11:58–16:14 · Andrew as informed peer 5/10 Due Diligence Process and Valuation Correction Tim politely corrects Andrew's earlier opening statement by noting the sale was six figures rather than five, which Andrew warmly embraces before detailing due diligence risks.16:19–18:40 · Andrew as informed peer 2/10 Post-Acquisition Transition and Future Ventures A friendly wrap-up where Tim jokingly reminds Andrew that LinkedIn is the natural contact method given his company's focus.0:24–5:05 · Guest teaching 1/10 Inlytics Overview and LinkedIn Market Problem The conversation is entirely collaborative and friendly. Andrew asks standard introductory questions while Tim praises MicroAcquire's platform structure.5:07–9:02 · Guest teaching 1/10 Filtering Buyer Inquiries and Qualification Strategies Andrew offers actionable advice on vetting potential buyers by making them qualify themselves, which aligns smoothly with Tim's experience with XO Capital.9:02–11:58 · Guest teaching 1/10 Startup Valuation Dynamics and Seller Advice Andrew demonstrates strong domain expertise regarding SaaS valuation metrics, explaining why high revenue multiples are typically reserved for companies at scale.11:58–16:14 · Guest teaching 4/10 Due Diligence Process and Valuation Correction Tim politely corrects Andrew's earlier opening statement by noting the sale was six figures rather than five, which Andrew warmly embraces before detailing due diligence risks.16:19–18:40 · Guest teaching 2/10 Post-Acquisition Transition and Future Ventures A friendly wrap-up where Tim jokingly reminds Andrew that LinkedIn is the natural contact method given his company's focus.0:24–5:05 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Inlytics Overview and LinkedIn Market Problem The conversation is entirely collaborative and friendly. Andrew asks standard introductory questions while Tim praises MicroAcquire's platform structure.5:07–9:02 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Filtering Buyer Inquiries and Qualification Strategies Andrew offers actionable advice on vetting potential buyers by making them qualify themselves, which aligns smoothly with Tim's experience with XO Capital.9:02–11:58 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Startup Valuation Dynamics and Seller Advice Andrew demonstrates strong domain expertise regarding SaaS valuation metrics, explaining why high revenue multiples are typically reserved for companies at scale.11:58–16:14 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Due Diligence Process and Valuation Correction Tim politely corrects Andrew's earlier opening statement by noting the sale was six figures rather than five, which Andrew warmly embraces before detailing due diligence risks.16:19–18:40 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Post-Acquisition Transition and Future Ventures A friendly wrap-up where Tim jokingly reminds Andrew that LinkedIn is the natural contact method given his company's focus.0:24–5:05 · Andrew pushing back 0/10 Inlytics Overview and LinkedIn Market Problem The conversation is entirely collaborative and friendly. Andrew asks standard introductory questions while Tim praises MicroAcquire's platform structure.5:07–9:02 · Andrew pushing back 0/10 Filtering Buyer Inquiries and Qualification Strategies Andrew offers actionable advice on vetting potential buyers by making them qualify themselves, which aligns smoothly with Tim's experience with XO Capital.9:02–11:58 · Andrew pushing back 0/10 Startup Valuation Dynamics and Seller Advice Andrew demonstrates strong domain expertise regarding SaaS valuation metrics, explaining why high revenue multiples are typically reserved for companies at scale.11:58–16:14 · Andrew pushing back 0/10 Due Diligence Process and Valuation Correction Tim politely corrects Andrew's earlier opening statement by noting the sale was six figures rather than five, which Andrew warmly embraces before detailing due diligence risks.16:19–18:40 · Andrew pushing back 0/10 Post-Acquisition Transition and Future Ventures A friendly wrap-up where Tim jokingly reminds Andrew that LinkedIn is the natural contact method given his company's focus.

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

0:00 · Andrew 20.8% · guest 79.2%0:00 · Andrew 20.8% · guest 79.2%3:00 · Andrew 3.8% · guest 96.2%3:00 · Andrew 3.8% · guest 96.2%6:00 · Andrew 42.5% · guest 57.5%6:00 · Andrew 42.5% · guest 57.5%9:00 · Andrew 44.6% · guest 55.4%9:00 · Andrew 44.6% · guest 55.4%12:00 · Andrew 17.1% · guest 82.9%12:00 · Andrew 17.1% · guest 82.9%15:00 · Andrew 41.2% · guest 58.8%15:00 · Andrew 41.2% · guest 58.8%18:00 · Andrew 36.3% · guest 63.7%18:00 · Andrew 36.3% · guest 63.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:05 Valuation correction

Tim gently interrupts the flow to correct Andrew's earlier statement that the business was acquired for five figures instead of six.

 Hardest push from Andrew ▶ 3:36 Helping with terminology

Andrew steps in to clarify and reframe Tim's phrasing from anonymous to private listing status.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 15:05 Fact-checking deal size

Tim directly corrects the host regarding the financial scale of his own acquisition deal.

 Andrew holds their own ▶ 11:03 Host explains SaaS valuation multiples

Andrew demonstrates industry expertise by detailing why early-stage startups fail to sell when pricing at 10x ARR without $10M+ scale.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicAndrew as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementAndrew pushing backWhy
Inlytics Overview and LinkedIn Market Problem 2100 The conversation is entirely collaborative and friendly. Andrew asks standard introductory questions while Tim praises MicroAcquire's platform structure.
Filtering Buyer Inquiries and Qualification Strategies 5100 Andrew offers actionable advice on vetting potential buyers by making them qualify themselves, which aligns smoothly with Tim's experience with XO Capital.
Startup Valuation Dynamics and Seller Advice 7100 Andrew demonstrates strong domain expertise regarding SaaS valuation metrics, explaining why high revenue multiples are typically reserved for companies at scale.
Due Diligence Process and Valuation Correction 5410 Tim politely corrects Andrew's earlier opening statement by noting the sale was six figures rather than five, which Andrew warmly embraces before detailing due diligence risks.
Post-Acquisition Transition and Future Ventures 2200 A friendly wrap-up where Tim jokingly reminds Andrew that LinkedIn is the natural contact method given his company's focus.

Statements from this episode (8)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Large Firms Employed Dedicated Staff to Manually Pull LinkedIn Data
“I was in touch with larger organizations and they had one person you know, employed just for pulling data from LinkedIn, visualizing it in Excel. And this, you know, this sucks, this costs a lot of time and it's also very expensive to do.”
Tim Schmidbauer Jun 6, 2022 ▶ 1:43
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Inlytics Received 30 Buyer Inquiries Over Two Months on MicroAcquire
“Roughly speaking, about 30 or something, like in, in the course of two months, I would say we were in touch with maybe 1516, 17 with them.”
Tim Schmidbauer Jun 6, 2022 ▶ 5:12
Insight
Gazdecki: Sellers Should Make Prospective Buyers Qualify Themselves
“One piece of advice I always give to sellers is make a buyer work for you, and what I mean by that is you ask them a series of questions like, have you acquired a company before, or in your situation maybe do you have any experience in this space, and they slo…”
Andrew Gazdecki Jun 6, 2022 ▶ 6:11
Disclosure
XO Capital Acquired Inlytics
“I can name it, because it's public, so it's XO Capital from the United States.”
Tim Schmidbauer Jun 6, 2022 ▶ 7:04
Insight
Gazdecki: 10x ARR Multiples Require at Least $10M in Revenue
“Cause the number one reason that a lot of startups don't sell on microquire is they just priced. 10 X annual recurring revenue. And those multiples are really reserved for when you're at scale. So when you're like at ten million revenue and above, that's when …”
Andrew Gazdecki Jun 6, 2022 ▶ 11:40
Insight
Clueless Buyers in Due Diligence Lack Post-Acquisition Plans
“I think if somebody in due diligence is really clueless what to do, what to ask for, it also kind of shows they don't have any plan on what to do with the business after that”
Tim Schmidbauer Jun 6, 2022 ▶ 13:49
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Inlytics Had Roughly 15,000 Users at Acquisition
“By the time we had 15,000 users on the platform, roughly.”
Tim Schmidbauer Jun 6, 2022 ▶ 14:15
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Schmidbauer Corrects Inlytics Deal Size to Six Figures
“In the beginning we said we had a deal for five figures. It was actually like six”
Tim Schmidbauer Jun 6, 2022 ▶ 15:05
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