4 ms·

Sometimes I wonder whether I should go and try to buy a micro SaaS business (I am an SWE) that's already out there just for the sake of trying to learn the rope

Sometimes I wonder whether I should go and try to buy a micro SaaS business (I am an SWE) that's already out there just for the sake of trying to learn the ropes on how to do a business. Convince me this is a bad idea.

FredPret 5y ago
The book E-Myth is about just such a scenario
- mrkentutbabi 5y ago
  Will take a look! thank you
proexploit 5y ago
I think it's a lot harder to pick a good business than you think. Many "micro" sized businesses have significant issues and avoiding them requires you to know all the right questions to ask. If you are able to make the right pick and the size of the deal is something you're comfortable seeing go to zero, it may be a good learning experience. However, you'll be learning to acquire and keep a business alive, not start a business through this. Some things may remain the same depending on the stage of the business but if you're looking for experience starting a business, I think starting on and failing will be better training (and free)
- mrkentutbabi 5y ago
  Yeah I expect this. I think I would like to start from something I am somewhat familiar with. Interesting note about "acquiring and keeping a business alive, not starting a business", I am under the impression that these two skills are related, if not the same.
  - proexploit 5y ago
    They're definitely related (and more so the closer to start a business is). Depending on the business you may be benefiting from research, product/market fit, marketing, experiments, and on and on. It's not that the stuff you would do isn't relevant to starting your business but that it's not the complete picture.
kentt 5y ago
I think it's a great idea. I'm a SWE and have purchased three now. It seems way easier to run 3 micro businesses than it was to deal with everything that a typical job entails. I think the risk is quite low for most SaaS products.
- swyx 5y ago
  how much did you spend on each and were there any buyer protection clauses (like earnout) you put in place?
- itisit 5y ago
  If you don't mind sharing, how did you discover and pursue your targets? Would love to learn more on this.
- mrkentutbabi 5y ago
  Wow interesting! Please share!
AQuantized 5y ago
Perhaps try to build your own and run that instead? To be honest I think you'd learn more about how to buy a business than how to run one if you bought one instead.
- mrkentutbabi 5y ago
  I have no experience in doing it, and also don't have an idea that is worth selling :(
- andreilys 5y ago
  Starting a business is a lot harder than running one. If you buy a business, you have the opportunity to scale and fix issues (code, business model and otherwise). Starting something from scratch involves a lot more work and skills.
  - indymike 5y ago
    > Starting something from scratch involves a lot more work and skills. Starting vs. buying/scaling requires a different set of skills and perhaps different work, but roughly the same amount as starting. Source: I've done both.

FredPret 5y ago

The book E-Myth is about just such a scenario

mrkentutbabi 5y ago
Will take a look! thank you

proexploit 5y ago

I think it's a lot harder to pick a good business than you think. Many "micro" sized businesses have significant issues and avoiding them requires you to know all the right questions to ask. If you are able to make the right pick and the size of the deal is something you're comfortable seeing go to zero, it may be a good learning experience. However, you'll be learning to acquire and keep a business alive, not start a business through this. Some things may remain the same depending on the stage of the business but if you're looking for experience starting a business, I think starting on and failing will be better training (and free)

mrkentutbabi 5y ago
Yeah I expect this. I think I would like to start from something I am somewhat familiar with. Interesting note about "acquiring and keeping a business alive, not starting a business", I am under the impression that these two skills are related, if not the same.
- proexploit 5y ago
  They're definitely related (and more so the closer to start a business is). Depending on the business you may be benefiting from research, product/market fit, marketing, experiments, and on and on. It's not that the stuff you would do isn't relevant to starting your business but that it's not the complete picture.

kentt 5y ago

I think it's a great idea. I'm a SWE and have purchased three now. It seems way easier to run 3 micro businesses than it was to deal with everything that a typical job entails. I think the risk is quite low for most SaaS products.

swyx 5y ago
how much did you spend on each and were there any buyer protection clauses (like earnout) you put in place?
itisit 5y ago
If you don't mind sharing, how did you discover and pursue your targets? Would love to learn more on this.
mrkentutbabi 5y ago
Wow interesting! Please share!

AQuantized 5y ago

Perhaps try to build your own and run that instead? To be honest I think you'd learn more about how to buy a business than how to run one if you bought one instead.

mrkentutbabi 5y ago
I have no experience in doing it, and also don't have an idea that is worth selling :(
andreilys 5y ago
Starting a business is a lot harder than running one. If you buy a business, you have the opportunity to scale and fix issues (code, business model and otherwise). Starting something from scratch involves a lot more work and skills.
- indymike 5y ago
  > Starting something from scratch involves a lot more work and skills. Starting vs. buying/scaling requires a different set of skills and perhaps different work, but roughly the same amount as starting. Source: I've done both.