Answers to common seller questions on Acquire.com
Last updated: July 27th, 2023
Account
Can I give access to my startup profile to my co-founder?
At this time, the only way to share access to your listing with your cofounder would be to give them your account login credentials.
Can I sell more than one startup?
Yes, but you need a separate seller account for each startup you want to list.
To list your startups separately and use the same email address, just add "+appname" before the “@” on your seller account.
You'll then receive communications for both accounts to the same email address.
For example:
- andrew@example.com
- andrew+seller@example.com
would both deliver to andrew@example.com.
You'll be able to sell multiple startups in a more sophisticated way once we've built it into the product, but this workaround will help in the meantime.
Can I sell my startup anonymously?
When you publish your listing on Acquire.com, your name and domain remain hidden. You choose what to reveal to potential buyers, either by automatically or individually approving requests for private information.
Although your name and domain are hidden, you must provide your real name, financials, and startup details. This helps prevent scams on the marketplace and gives buyers just enough information to decide whether to pursue an acquisition.
Do you have security installed on your servers?
No, we haven't installed cybersecurity on our servers because we use Google Cloud, which is more secure than physical servers.
Our servers are inaccessible outside of Acquire.com and we’ve invested a lot of time and resources to ensure the marketplace is secure.
Can I take acquisition conversations offline?
We don't recommend it. Once you leave the Acquire.com platform, you lose the security and verifiable transaction trail the platform provides.
If you get a suspicious message, let us know by contacting our support team at support@acquire.com.
What should I do if someone contacts me with a broken LinkedIn profile?
First, ask the person to verify the URL. Many people are unaware they have a dead link on their profile, and there might simply be an error in the URL.
If they refuse to provide a valid URL, pause your dealings with them and let us know so we can flag the issue and try to resolve this with the buyer.
Listing
Are my startup’s details public?
No, all listings are anonymous. The seller name, company name, domain, attached documents, and connected metrics are hidden from the general public.
Potential buyers will request access to your startup if they're interested in learning more. You'll sign a mutual NDA with any buyer you give access to your full listing, protecting your data. If you don't think the buyer is a good fit, feel free to reject their access request.
Your account defaults to auto-approve buyer access requests when you first set up your listing. Since buyers must sign NDAs to view your private information, we recommend keeping this setting to sell your business faster.
What do I do if I was rejected for not verifying my ID?
Our community counts on us to maintain fairness, transparency, and confidence in our listings, including taking additional steps to verify startup ownership.
To verify your startup, follow these steps:
- Log into your seller account.
- Click View full profile.
- Complete the steps to verify your profile.
Once you’ve verified your profile, please reply to the email we sent you, and we’ll take another look.
We hope you understand and appreciate our extra care. 🤙
How do you vet listings?
We want you to have the best experience when selling on Acquire.com, which means ensuring you get buyer interest. We maintain strict criteria to ensure the startups most likely to sell appear before the greatest number of buyers.
That said, we DO NOT conduct in-depth seller due diligence on any startup listings. We do not make representations, warranties, or guarantees of any kind regarding sellers or their listed startups. Instead, we pass the baton to buyers to perform their own due diligence to ensure a company is the right fit for them.
If you’d like to learn more about our role, please see our Buyer and Seller Terms of Use.
Does my startup qualify for listing on Acquire.com?
Though we wish we could qualify all listings, we only list those we believe will attract buyer attention and create a rewarding acquisition process for all involved.
To see if your business is a good fit for Acquire.com, explore what types of startups you can list here.
What startups do you currently list?
We specialize in five main startup models:
- SaaS
- Ecommerce
- Shopify Apps
- Mobile Apps
- Marketplaces
To qualify for the marketplace, your listing must:
- Have a secure SSL-certifiable website that explains the product well.
- Be currently operating and revenue-generating (with few exceptions made for pre-revenue SaaS-specific sellers).
- Have justifiable usage of price multiples that our curation team will verify.
Learn more about what types of startups we currently list here.
What startups do you not currently list?
We don't list brick-and-mortar businesses, franchise “opportunities,” or MLM commission systems. We also don't list companies seeking investments or partial acquisitions.
Startups with broken websites or non-operational app store links will not qualify, nor any business in the adult entertainment, weapons, or gambling industries.
See which startups we love to list in our acceptable listings guide.
Do you list companies that don’t have any customers OR revenue?
Generally, we only list startups generating revenue. If your startup is pre-revenue, you’re more likely to qualify for our platform if you acquire a few paying customers. It will be much easier to find a serious buyer that way and establish a higher asking price.
Can I list my pre-revenue startup?
We don’t usually list pre-revenue startups unless they meet the following criteria:
- SaaS business model
- Priced under $25,000
- Interesting, useful, or niche purpose
- Have active customers
- Have a decent SSL-certified website explaining the product well
Even if you meet this criteria, our curation team has the final decision on whether to list your pre-revenue startup.
I submitted a pre-revenue startup and it got rejected. What happened?
Unfortunately, we don't list most pre-revenue startups because they don't get much buyer interest. We occasionally make exceptions if your business meets the following criteria:
- SaaS business model
- Priced under $25,000
- Interesting, useful, or niche purpose
- Has active customers
- Has a decent SSL-certified website explaining the product well
Our buyer community is particular about pre-revenue startups, so we're more selective to ensure all listings get buyer attention. We only want the best for our founders!
If we can't list your pre-revenue startup, acquire some customers, make some money, and then return – we'd love to reconsider you.
Do you make exceptions for some pre-revenue startups?
Because we see acquisitions as a two-way success story, we do make exceptions for pre-revenue SaaS startups on an as-needed basis.
Pre-revenue startups must be SaaS-specific with an asking price under $25,000. The product must be helpful, interesting, niche, or have many active users along with an active and secure website.
The demand for pre-revenue startups fluctuates on Acquire.com, so we tend to be stricter on qualifying pre-revenue.
Why was my listing rejected if I have customers?
The likeliest reason is that we couldn't verify your customer numbers. To move forward with the vetting process, please connect your Google Analytics metrics. When you’re done, reply to the rejection email we sent you and our curation team will take another look.
Can I sell only my technology (website and domain)?
If you're selling a business without customers, your listing would fall under our “pre-revenue" category.
Pre-revenue listings must meet the following criteria:
- SaaS business model
- Priced under $25,000
- Interesting, useful, or niche purpose
- Has active customers
- Has a decent SSL-certified website explaining the product well
If you'd like to move forward with your listing, we ask that you adjust your asking price to under $25,000 and edit your business description to indicate exactly what your future buyer would be acquiring.
What is my startup worth?
Your startup is worth whatever a buyer will pay for it – that's the bottom line in every successful acquisition. How do you get to that figure? By calculating a valuation that reflects the current performance of your business, its potential, and current market conditions.
- Pick the most appropriate valuation methodology – for most revenue-making businesses, that's the multiple methodology where you apply a multiple to revenue or profit.
- Check out the average multiples at which startups got acquired in the last six months. We issue these reports biannually, based on customer-reported data.
- Choose whether to apply your multiple to revenue or profit. Revenue might be suitable if you're in a high-growth phase and are reinvesting all profits into growth. In all other cases, profit is probably the more suitable metric.
- Pick a multiple range that gives you a valuation range, an ideal and walkaway figure, and that you can confidently justify and defend with facts and figures.
- Your startup's worth is somewhere inside that range – the final number that a buyer is willing to pay. Expect and prepare to negotiate and you can achieve a higher amount.
If you own a SaaS business, connect your Stripe analytics for a free valuation using our tool. Otherwise, here are some resources to help you determine a figure manually.
As a bonus, we also recommend learning how buyers value startups. Our founder and CEO, Andrew Gazdecki, explains what buyers look for in the video below.
What types of businesses have a high chance of getting acquired?
Our highest in-demand listings are SaaS and Shopify apps. We're working on a more in-depth write-up about what we're seeing. Stay tuned for our newsletter next month!
When will my startup be featured in the newsletter?
Once approved by our curation team for a newsletter blast, please allow two to four weeks for your startup’s turn in the newsletter. You will receive an email 48 hours in advance confirming your newsletter spot.
Can I sell my business ideas?
As much as we would love to help you, we are more focused on startups that are currently operating and generating revenue from customers.
Can I list my Amazon FBA business? Shopify app?
Yes! We have many buyers interested in acquiring these types of businesses. To get started, please submit your listing for our curation team to review.
Can I sell a portion or shares of my startup?
We currently don't support the transfer of fractional shares of ownership. We are prohibited by the SEC from advertising or facilitating deals that are fractional, and we don't do licensing deals for the same reason.
Although we wish we can help you, we do know of some others who can. If you are interested in closing a fractional ownership deal, we recommend you try Flippa.com. Similarly, if you’re looking for investors but wish to retain control of your startup, check out AngelList.com.
Can I list multiple apps for sale?
Our product team is currently working on a feature to allow multiple listings under one account, but for now, you'll need a separate account for each listing.
If you're looking to sell all apps as a bundle, you can edit the current listing and add the details for each app in the description.
Alternatively, if you want to list them separately and use the same email address, just add “+appname” before the “@” on your seller account and you will receive communications for both accounts to the same email address.
Example: andrew@example.com and andrew+seller@example.com will both deliver to andrew@example.com.
Fielding offers
What is a letter of intent (LOI)?
A letter of intent (LOI) is a formal offer of acquisition and describes how much you’re offering the founder (the purchase price) and under what terms and conditions.
The founder is under no obligation to accept your LOI, so consider it the start of negotiations. Once the founder accepts, however, you start the formal acquisition process, moving to due diligence and escrow.
Here are a few resources to get you started:
- What is an LOI? (includes a free template)
- How to use our LOI builder
- How to evaluate a letter of intent (LOI)
Is an LOI legally binding?
An LOI doesn't legally require you to go through with the proposed transaction. However, it may sometimes contain legally binding terms that help both sides complete the transaction like a mutual NDA or “no-shop” clause.
The LOI builder automatically includes a “no-shop” clause (which you can remove if you want). This prevents the founder from speaking to or negotiating with other buyers once they’ve accepted your LOI. If you’re at all doubtful of your obligations under the LOI, please consult a legal professional.
How do letters of intent (LOIs) work?
An LOI is an offer of acquisition. It sets out the purchase price, terms, and conditions of an offer, but isn't usually legally binding (though some terms might be).
To understand how they work, here are some free resources to help you:
- What is an LOI? (includes a free template)
- How to use our LOI builder
- How to evaluate a letter of intent (LOI)
How should I respond to an LOI?
If you're happy with the contents of the LOI, accept it from your acquisition dashboard and send the buyer a short message to say thank you. Arrange a call to discuss next steps.
Otherwise, you can reject the LOI with a message to the buyer explaining why. You might then get on a call to discuss or negotiate new terms.
Here are some resources to help you:
Can I message other buyers while under LOI?
To be fair to everyone, you can’t receive and manage requests from other buyers while your startup is in the process of selling. However, you can cancel the deal at any time and look for a more suitable buyer if you’re unhappy with the LOI (and the buyer won’t negotiate).
Can you relist my startup while I'm under an LOI?
An LOI typically includes very few binding terms, the main exception being the exclusivity (aka "No-Shop") provision that's binding while the LOI is active. That said, we can't relist your business on the marketplace unless you have canceled your LOI.
I accepted an LOI, but the buyer pulled out before we finished escrow (now canceled). Can I re-list my startup?
Before we get started on re-listing your startup, let's address a few housekeeping items.
First and foremost, we cannot speak on behalf of an attorney. If you have any questions, please consult your attorney for more information.
We recommend doing the following before going live on the marketplace:
- Please ask the buyer to confirm in writing that they want to terminate the transaction (if they have not done so already).
- Ensure you're up-to-date on your LOI obligations and aren't bound by a no-shop provision.
- If you have signed an asset purchase agreement or any other document, please determine whether you can terminate those agreements yourself or if you need the buyer's consent. If you have any questions about this, please contact your attorney.
- Please keep a record of your Escrow.com transaction cancellation. Acquire.com has no part of any transaction or release of funds, so if you have questions about escrow, please direct them to Escrow.com.
If you still want us to re-list your business after reviewing these obligations, we're happy to do that, but we ask that you agree and acknowledge here that re-listing carries a certain amount of risk that Acquire.com cannot calculate or advise on. We are not parties to any agreement between you and the buyer, so any dispute would need to be resolved between you and the buyer.
For more information on how to execute this, please reach out to support@acquire.com.
What should I verify about a buyer when receiving an LOI?
Typically, you’d just sign the LOI if everything looks good but before you do that, ensure your expectations are in line with the buyer's expectations.
Check out these resources for more information on what to do next:
Escrow
Do I need Acquire.com's permission to cancel escrow on Escrow.com?
No, we're not involved in any part of your Escrow.com transaction.
Please let Escrow.com know that Acquire.com has no say in any transaction and they should proceed as instructed. If you are still having trouble, please contact an Escrow.com account manager at scanala@escrow.com.
How long does it take to get acquired?
How quickly you sell your business depends on many factors, including market conditions and your motivation to sell. If you've prepared well, you could sell in fewer than 30 days. In a tougher market or if you need more time to prepare, it might take a year or more.
Regardless of the timeframe, you decide how quickly you want to sell. The more work you put in (and our customer success team can help), the likelier you are to sell quickly.
Still need help?
Please search the help desk again or contact support at support@acquire.com.