How to Build a Profitable SaaS in 6 Months and Sell it in 5 Days

How to Build a Profitable SaaS in 6 Months and Sell it in 5 Days

Author: Acquire.com September 25, 2024 Duration: 20:49

Software businesses can be immensely profitable in very little time. But they can also die just as quickly.


Software engineer Mark Jivko built Go index me!, a tool that speeds up Google page indexing, in six months for a bit of extra cash. He grew it to over 150 regular customers and thousands of dollars in sales in under a year.


But Mark knew building an app that only relied on the Google APIs was playing with fire. It could all be demolished with a keystroke during a system update. He wanted to sell while he was ahead so that he could move onto another project he was more passionate about.


Mark had previously sold a business on Acquire.com and knew he’d find the buyer he was looking for there. He sold Go index me! in one week under the tutelage of his buyer, an eight-time serial startup acquirer who DM’d him almost immediately.


Now Mark is gearing up for a new project to help founders using social media for product distribution to avoid platform addiction.


Tune in to this SASP with Mark and Andrew as they discuss:

  • Mark’s trick to do escrows faster
  • The questions you should never answer from buyers before going under LOI
  • Why Mark knew he was going to sell his tool from the beginning
  • How Mark plans to help founders who use social media reduce their addictions to the platforms
  • And read our writeup of Mark’s story here.


Mark is just getting started and you can follow him below:



Behind every successful startup acquisition, there's a story-a complex mix of strategy, emotion, and paperwork that rarely gets discussed openly. Startup Acquisition Stories, from the team at Acquire.com, pulls back the curtain on those real-world transactions. Each episode features founders and entrepreneurs who have personally navigated the process of selling or buying a business through their platform. You'll hear them recount the nuanced decisions that don't make it into press releases: the challenging conversations around valuation, the subtle art of vetting the opposite party, and the critical, often overlooked, steps after the handshake. This podcast digs into the practicalities of due diligence, structuring terms, and managing the transfer of assets, all the way through to escrow and the crucial post-deal transition. It’s a grounded, detail-oriented look at the mechanics of a business exit or expansion, straight from the people who’ve lived it. For anyone curious about the actual path to a deal, beyond the theory, this series offers a rare archive of lived experience and hard-won advice.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Startup Acquisition Stories
Podcast Episodes
How To Sell a Bootstrapped SaaS in 7 Days With No Earn-Out [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:29
Omar Zouhair didn’t build PageCrafter to flip it. He built it to fix a bottleneck in his own team. But once it worked, he listed it on Acquire.com with no expectations.Seven days later, the deal was done. All cash. No ea…
How He Acquired an EdTech SaaS and 10x’d Its Revenue [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:33
Chanakya Yerneni didn’t want another promotion. He wanted freedom—and the chance to build something of his own.After a decade in enterprise SaaS, he quit corporate, browsed Acquire.com, and bought a small AI grading tool…
Built a Profitable Startup and Got Acquired at Just 18 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:26
At just 18 years old, Siyabend Özdemir bootstrapped and sold Gen PPT, an AI-powered presentation generator used by students, marketers, and solopreneurs across the globe.What started as a school-night experiment turned i…
From Side Hustle to Clean Exit in 30 Days [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:03
Christopher Schwab didn’t build Inova Local to chase scale. He built it to solve a real problem: how to support home service businesses with reliable, high-quality remote admin help.What started as a side project quickly…
The Lean SaaS Exit: PLG, Profitability, and a Strategic Acquisition [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:11
What started as a side project during business school became a profitable, product-led SaaS used by finance teams, and was successfully acquired through Acquire.com.In this episode, Trevor Lee, founder of Genius Sheets,…
Zero Funding, One Buyer, and a Clean SaaS Exit [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:54
If Christopher Lier could give three key pieces of advice to SaaS founders planning an exit, they would be:Build a focused product that solves a specific problemBe fully transparent during the acquisition processNever se…
Inside a Bootstrapped Exit: How Johann Sold Jars on Acquire.com [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:45
If Johann Sathianathen could give two key pieces of advice to founders who want to sell a startup fast, he’d say:Build and sell early—even while working full-timeReinvest stable income to accelerate your startup runwayJo…
Bootstrapped, Built, Sold: Luka’s Micro-SaaS Exit [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:05
If Luka Pecavar could give three pieces of advice to founders building and selling micro-SaaS products, he’d say:Build simple tools that solve a specific problemListen to user feedback early and oftenEven small apps can…
Built. Sold. Free. A Startup Exit in Just 9 Months [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:25
When Abdulla Abdurazzoqov Reflects on Selling His SaaS Startup, He Offers These Takeaways:Build organic traffic early with free toolsChoose peace of mind over uncertaintyA strong Product Hunt launch can drive your first…