Thomas Smale, co-founder of M&A brokerage FE International, explains the key operational variables that determine online business valuation multiples.
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“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 technical. And there's a team of programmers and developers in place.”
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More from Thomas Smale
Insight
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…”
Thomas SmaleJun 3, 2016▶ 6:18You Won't Believe How He's Sold 350 Businesses in 6 Years, EP 254: Thomas Smale
AssertionNot checkable as stated
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…”
Thomas SmaleJul 3, 2023▶ 11:23Lessons From $1bn in Exits: Behind The Scenes of the ThriveCart Exit
AssertionSupported
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.”
Thomas SmaleJul 3, 2023▶ 18:28Lessons From $1bn in Exits: Behind The Scenes of the ThriveCart Exit
Opinion
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.”
Thomas SmaleJul 3, 2023▶ 22:15Lessons From $1bn in Exits: Behind The Scenes of the ThriveCart Exit
AssertionNot checkable as stated
ThriveCart Processed Over $1B in Annual GMV at Exit
“Thrivecart at time of exit actually had over a billion dollars a year in GMV.”
Thomas SmaleJul 3, 2023▶ 8:20Lessons From $1bn in Exits: Behind The Scenes of the ThriveCart Exit
AssertionNot checkable as stated
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.”
Thomas SmaleJul 3, 2023▶ 9:18Lessons From $1bn in Exits: Behind The Scenes of the ThriveCart Exit
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