Episode 827 | The Founder's Guide to Selling Your SaaS for What It's Actually Worth
Startups For the Rest of Us
Debunking 'Startups Are Bought, Not Sold'
Einar argues the VC incentive misalignments behind the saying and why founders often should run a sale process.
What would it mean for you to leave 60 or 70% of your company's value on the table when you sell?
In this episode, Rob sits down with Einar Vollset, co-founder of TinySeed and founder of Discretion Capital, to talk about his new book, The Definitive Guide to M&A for B2B SaaS between $2 and $20 million ARR. They dig into why private equity now dominates the buyer landscape, why growth and churn are the top two valuation drivers, and how the myth that "startups are bought, not sold" could cost you millions.
Einar also explains the danger of running your business past its peak growth rate before selling, why ARR multiples matter more than profit, and how the right M&A advisor can add 30 to 300% to an initial offer.
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Topics we cover:
- (3:34) – Why Einar wrote an M&A guide for SaaS founders
- (5:26) – How founders leave value on the table when selling
- (8:22) – How private equity moved down market
- (11:24) – Choosing the right broker or banker
- (12:55) – Platform acquisitions vs. tuck-ins explained
- (19:24) – Why "startups are bought, not sold" is wrong
- (25:48) – Growth and churn as top valuation drivers
- (30:02) – Why ARR multiples matter more than profit
- (34:34) – The danger of running past peak growth
Links from the show:
- The Definitive Guide to M&A for B2B SaaS between $2–20M ARR
- Discretion Capital
- MicroConf US (Portland) - April 12-14, 2026
- MicroConf Mastermind Matching
- MicroConf Mastermind Playbook
- TinySeed
- Exit Strategy by Rob and Sherry Walling
- The SaaS Playbook
- ScrapingBee
- Built to Sell by John Warrillow
- Einar Vollset @einarvollset | X
If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, pleasesubmit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!
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