Adam Haynes is a managing director at GLC Advisors, an M&A advisory firm that helps bootstrapped founders sell their companies successfully. The GLC software advisor team 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 of 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. Buyers and sellers 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.”