Serial entrepreneur Stuart Fott discusses revenue benchmarks across his portfolio of vertical SaaS companies with Acquire.com CEO Andrew Gazdecki.
Insight
Vertical SaaS products gain traction and distribution easier than broad tools
“So I've just learned from experience that if I'm selling a software product and I position it for everyone, It's harder to get traction. If I position it for a certain vertical, a lot easier to get traction more specifically from partners within the space.”
Insight
Fott: Reputation tools serve as an effective vertical SaaS wedge
“I always say the reputation tool is a great, you know, foot in the door, so the idea is, okay, you're a reputation company for gems. But then once you get your foot in the door, you start working with gyms, then hopefully you can find out different tools and f…”
Insight
Fott: Startup acquisitions usually go to the buyer easiest to work with
“So I think I think a lot of buyers really underestimate, like, you really should be cool to these sellers because there's lots of people looking at these deals, and, you know, at the end of the day, it usually comes down to whoever is the coolest and easiest t…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fott scaled a SaaS to $100k ARR and sold for $500k
“And so I went out kind of using my same playbook went and acquired about a hundred K and ARR and then listed it on acquire. And I think within like maybe 30 to 45 days sold that business for 500 K and, you know, it was a nice transaction and then kind of just …”
Disclosure
Stuart Fott contacts 20 current or prospective partners every day
“I just plug it into my phone. I have a cadence where every, every day I reach out to 20 either potential partners that I'm working with or Current partners that I'm working with are potential partners that I would like to work with, and depending on what stage…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fott: Micro-SaaS exits typically take 30–45 days and 20–30 buyer calls
“Usually it'll take me between 30 and 45 days from listing to closing, and then usually for each acquisition, I'll probably jump on, you know, 20 to 30 calls.”