SaaS isn’t dead. It’s just dead to VC’s chasing billion-dollar 100X outcomes. That’s where their action is these days.
Serious SaaS exits are still happening, but the standards for acquisitions in 2026 are much higher than they were just last year.
You need solid growth, proof of profitability, low customer churn, productive employees, and a strong strategic fit with the acquirer.
And acquisitions with strategic fit require aligned timing.
Andy Alsop didn’t start The Receptionist.
He bought the small iPad-based visitor management app in 2013 for $250K and turned it into a real SaaS business.
What began as a simple front-desk check-in tool evolved into a full visitor management system used across offices, schools, and manufacturing sites.
Over a decade, Andy grew the company to 5,500 customers across 8,000 locations and more than $7M in ARR with just 30 employees.
He stayed mostly bootstrapped, focused on steady growth, strong customer retention, and a unique “employee supremacy” culture that emphasized trust, transparency, and long-term loyalty.
At an inflection point—needing more capital to keep up with a maturing market—Andy chose to sell rather than raise growth equity.
The company was acquired by Sign In, a growth-equity-backed platform consolidating the category.
As Andy describes it this week on my podcast,
“I sold 100% of the company. It was a full acquisition. I wasn’t even looking for it, and this is something my brother in tech always said, Don’t build a company to sell it: build a great company and somebody will want to come along and buy it.
”And I think that’s exactly the way it played out. We didn’t go and look for the acquisition. We were pursued by Sign In, and that’s what happened.
“Just build a great company, and somebody will want to come along and buy it. Because I didn’t want to just sell it. I mean, we’re profitable. We’re growing. We have very low churn. Great employees. We’re doing great in the marketplace. I didn’t really have to sell.”
Andy also shares how he evaluated buyers, avoided common exit traps, and built a company worth acquiring without chasing VC growth.
Check out this informative episode with Andy Alsop on the Practical Founders Podcast.
