#94: Practical M&A Advisor Explains SaaS Valuations and Acquisition Trends – Adam Haynes

Adam Haynes is a managing director at GLC Advisors, an M&A advisory firm that helps bootstrapped founders to successfully sell their companies. The software advisor team at GLC has been working with practical software founders for over 15 years and has completed over 100 software transactions.  In this expert interview, Adam shares: What has changed in software acquisitions in the last 20 years and recently through 2024 What are the valuation ranges and factors for practical SaaS companies under $10M revenue The 7 key areas that founders should be working on several years before an acquisition When should a SaaS founder consider using an M&A advisor Quote from Adam Haynes, M&A Advisor at GLC Advisors “When you are selling your company and the buyer is looking at all your challenges and problems, founders should know that deal breakers are very rare. Buyer and seller want to get a deal done, and there are ways to navigate around them.  “You can’t have a software company without tech debt. That’s okay. Nothing’s perfect, but you need to have a remediation plan for it. If you were going to close a couple of big deals during diligence and you don’t, or they get delayed, the valuation may take a hit. Or they might inject some structure like an earn-out if you can get these two deals signed. “But if you don’t own your IP and don’t own or clearly license all your code, that’s tough to navigate around. Or if you’ve infringed on somebody. That can be a dealbreaker, but it isn’t that common.” Links Adam Haynes on LinkedIn GLC Advisors on LinkedIn GLC Advisors website GLC Software Capital Markets Report – Q1 2024 The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com.