The Exchanges

Q then I guess, um, uh, my next question would be, how did you transfer all the assets over? I know Shopify is a little bit easier in terms of just kind of, did you just kind of hand over the keys? Did you have a zoom call? Did you have like a list of all the items that you were going to transfer? How did, how did that part work?

A Yeah, I think, um, because I had, um, when I went into this kind of like journey or challenge, um, I had in mind that I'm gonna sell it at some point. So From the beginning I had structured the entire infrastructure like that. So I had like separate AWS account, separate Shopify account, uh, separate, uh, hosting, uh, web hosting. So everything had a separate account. So I would just hand over the accounts to the person that actually acquired them. Um, and I think that saved me a lot of hassle and time because usually all my projects are under one umbrella and it's, it's a mess. Uh, but that really helped. Um, So the whole process was easy. We jumped, jumped on a zoom call. Um, he sent over some terms that I think he, he was the first buyer as well. So he found the terms on a macro acquire. Uh, we went through escrow. So it was kind of just, uh, a journey that we were discovering the process, uh, both of us. Uh, so it was really smooth actually.

AI assessment note: “I would just hand over the accounts to the person that actually acquired them.”

Q we're like, what do you do? What? Uh, so when you, when you see the newsletter, actually, that's usually us. Kind of doing them some help in terms of clearly explaining that. I can clearly understand the problem that you were solving there. Um, I guess my next question would be, so, you know, you, you decided to sell, what made you, um, want to sell in the first place?

A Um, so initially, um, I think it was the whole idea that I wanted to build something, grow it in a certain state and sell it. Um, so it was a journey from the beginning to the end. So, Selling was part of the, um, uh, completion of the journey. Uh, it was, uh, it was at a point that, um, I had a lot of going on in my life with my current startup, um, that's, uh, Enterprise SaaS, uh, big company right now. Um, it was getting really busy. Uh, the app came in the lockdown, uh, kind of period that everyone had some free time, uh, picked up baking for a while. Then, uh, then I tried to build a Microsoft. And, um, yeah, at some point Shopify was, um, was doing some changes on the, on the authentication and had to spend like a couple of days working on the app. And at some point I was like, okay, I need to sell this, um, and move on, uh, and focus on my current startup.

AI assessment note: “I need to sell this, um, and move on, uh, and focus on my current startup.”

Q build something. I, I can, Relate to that more than you know. Um, but for those listening, focus on one startup. Um, anyways, uh, so you, you decide to list on micro acquire. Um, I'm assuming, um, multiple buyers reach out. Um, do you want to walk me through how that process went and how you finally landed on, you know, the buyer that ended up acquiring your Shopify app?

A Yeah. Um, so after I got some, some traction, as I said, it was the plan to sell. Obviously, uh, one of the problems, it was a new app, so it didn't have like a lot of history. Um, it wasn't running for 12 months. Um, I believe I listed it after three months. So, uh, a lot of the buyers, uh, wasn't meeting their criteria. Uh, at first, uh, obviously had kind of, uh, overestimated the value of the Of the app, uh, being a new app with, uh, low record, low traction. Um, I kind of, uh, set it at a high price point. Um, then I just, um, uh, actually I read the report of, uh, the, uh, the valuations of Shopify apps. I believe it was 2.7 XB ARR. Um, uh, at the end I sold for three something. And when I lowered the price, I got more qualified buyers. Um, and The whole process was, uh, super, super simple to be honest. Um, so, uh, the buyers would just ask for a few financials, some screenshots, um, then we would see if they, it would meet their, um, kind of like investment thesis or, uh, acquisition thesis. Um, and yeah, just, uh, at the end we had one, two calls with the actual buyer and a last call where I handed everything over and it was really nice.

AI assessment note: “we had one, two calls with the actual buyer and a last call”

Q to sell their business, like, as a, because I really like how you came and prepared, your accounts were separated, um, you had a realistic valuation, maybe I'm giving all the tips away, um, but, but if you had, um, You know, any tips to share in terms of how to maximize your chances of being acquired? Um, what would those be? I probably just gave you like five. Sorry.

A Yeah, you, you, you, you did a good intro there. Um, I believe also, um, how you handle potential buyers, um, is really important, like being honest, being upfront, having everything ready, um, you know, respond on time. I think all these kind of Uh, things help potential buyers see that, you know, um, you will be honest through the process. You will be there to support if needed. So, um, we build a good rapport with, um, with, uh, interested buyer. And I think that's helped the process a lot because, you know, there's so many apps right now and, uh, being able to have a good cooperation between the buyer and the seller is really important, uh, in the process. And of Of course, having a data room as well. I think that's important, uh, especially when you're, uh, have a bigger company, having everything ready, like your P and L statements, everything that potential acquire might ask, um, that would definitely, uh, help with the process. I believe.

AI assessment note: “how you handle potential buyers, um, is really important, like being honest”