Can't specify any financial details (sorry!), but the whole process lasted about 3 months.
Legal fees were reasonable using a local attorney that another startup introduced us to (with experience in M&A).
Due diligence included reviewing ROI reports (how well the product works for clients), financial reports of the company (where does revenue stand, how fast is it growing), current customer lists, past customer lists, all support conversations (how happy are customers, how fast are support requests handled), and gathering listings of accounts in-use that would need to be transferred.
We decided on a purchase price before entering due diligence, but saved equity offerings until after the deal had closed. At that point, we brought in our investors, and offered Andrew a priced option to invest (at a higher valuation than the purchase price based on the expanded team and advisors).
If you don't have guidance from someone with experience, you should probably use a broker. And if you don't know the seller super-well, you should probably use an escrow company for the transfer of assets. In our case, we knew we were working with a stand-up guy based on our friendship with Andrew, and how wonderful he was throughout the entire process.
Sorry about that TeeWEE! we needed something quick for the time-sensitive announcement and are drafting a more descriptive site at the moment :-) happy to answer any questions in the interim
We're pretty excited about how we structured the deal, and it's definitely not the way things are done in Silicon Valley. Even down to the expectations of our investors. We're setting out to grow a profitable business with the goal of early and lasting distributions for investors...not with the goal of an eventual mega-exit.
Happy to answer any detailed questions specifically about the structure/acquisition process (negotiation/due diligence/lawyers/etc), something you know plenty about :-)
Also of note, we didn't use an escrow account, or a website broker. This probably saved about $20k-$30k. We had an advisor, JD Graffam of SimpleFocus, that helped coach us along the way based on his experience acquiring products like Ballpark App.
This was really the first person I heard from that dug into this topic and it was super interesting to learn about. When you're the right fit, when you're not, and how to go about making the transition. Good stuff!
Preview: "When we started interviewing startup founders, we didn’t plan on building a big podcast, it was simply the best way to get audio content in the hands of listeners.
But the actions we took from that initial decision forward made it extremely easy to stick with the project as it grew, without losing interest and letting it fizzle..."
If you can't tell from the interview - I have a serious company-crush on Planning Center.
There are few companies out there that hold such strong beliefs and really stick to them. The impact of this shows in the quality of their team, culture, and office environment.
We didn't choose that visual up front, we worked with a designer that chose that look based on the product (Minimal Analytics). The brand has defined the product over time and is very recognizable.
Whereas a flat css theme wouldn't have been unique or recognizable.
Legal fees were reasonable using a local attorney that another startup introduced us to (with experience in M&A).
Due diligence included reviewing ROI reports (how well the product works for clients), financial reports of the company (where does revenue stand, how fast is it growing), current customer lists, past customer lists, all support conversations (how happy are customers, how fast are support requests handled), and gathering listings of accounts in-use that would need to be transferred.
We decided on a purchase price before entering due diligence, but saved equity offerings until after the deal had closed. At that point, we brought in our investors, and offered Andrew a priced option to invest (at a higher valuation than the purchase price based on the expanded team and advisors).
If you don't have guidance from someone with experience, you should probably use a broker. And if you don't know the seller super-well, you should probably use an escrow company for the transfer of assets. In our case, we knew we were working with a stand-up guy based on our friendship with Andrew, and how wonderful he was throughout the entire process.
Let me know if I can answer anything else! Matt