Startup Acquisition Stories with Dani Parra ibanez and Drilon Sqn, Founder of TrustApps

Startup Acquisition Stories with Dani Parra ibanez and Drilon Sqn, Founder of TrustApps

Author: Acquire.com January 30, 2024 Duration: 24:53

Working a nine-to-five can be a great launchpad for a successful SaaS application. Just ask Belgian founders Dani Ibanez and Drilon Sqn. Using their industry experience, they created a review application for Shopify called TrustReviews and sold it for six figures. Dani and Drilon look similar (and even finish each other's sentences) but they've pursued very different careers. Drilon is a software engineer and a cybersecurity consultant for the Belgian government. Dani worked in ecommerce marketing, advertising, and media buying for a handful of big-name clients. When they started brainstorming products to build together, Dani remembered his problems with product review apps from his marketing days. Many review platforms were two years behind on features like video reviews, for example. They built their own application and grew it rapidly through word of mouth and listening to customer feedback. They were proud of TrustReviews but when they got wind of a real-estate flip opportunity in Belgium, TrustReviews was the product they owned that was most easily sellable. They hopped on Acquire unsure they could actually sell TrustReviews but ended up closing the six-figure deal in a staggering two weeks. They walked away with more than enough to close their real estate deal. Listen to their talk with Andrew post acquisition as they discuss: ► Why you shouldn’t grow a Shopify app too quickly ► What to do with a windfall of money. ► The best parts of the Acquire.com Escrow.com integration ► A key feature they added to their website that boosted sales ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Be sure to subscribe to see the newest acquisition stories every Tuesday and gain the knowledge to buy or sell your own online business → https://youtube.com/@acquiredotcom?sub_confirmation=1 Want more stories? Access the past 50+ acquisition stories here → https://blog.acquire.com/tag/startup-acquisition-stories-podcast/ Thinking about selling your own startup? The number one question is always 'how much can I sell for' and we've got the answers in our biannual valuation multiples reports here → https://blog.acquire.com/tag/acquire-coms-acquisition-multiples-report/ Thinking about buying a startup? Sign up for a free buyer account and browse all the live listings. Upgrade only when you find the right one that fits your acquisition criteria to engage. Get Started → https://acquire.com/buyers/ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Follow the Guest: Dani Parra Ibanez and Drilon Sqn


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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…