Built it in 14 months on top of Stripe webhooks. 28x multiple, all-cash, closed via warm intro. Listing → first offer → close took 19 days. Inside: pricing strategy, what the diligence process actually looked like, and why I almost backed out twice.
Ask for receipts before paying retainer. Real signal: closed transactions in last 24 months, with specific multiples and asset types. If they dodge the question or send a generic "case study deck" — walk.
Pulled numbers from 12 pre-revenue acquisitions Q1 2026: median price $8.5k, range $2k-$28k. Code quality + niche specificity correlated 2x more than feature count. Full sheet with anonymized buyers/sellers + multiples in comments.
Honest answer from someone who is one. Tl;dr: at $200k+ asks, where buyer pool is thin and diligence is heavy. Below that — list yourself, save the fee. Long version with concrete examples of when I told sellers "you don't need me".
Done 40+ pre-sale audits this year. Most common deal-killer: high traffic, zero email capture = "$0 acquisition-wise" because the audience walks at handover. Ask me anything — pricing, SEO health, content debt, link velocity.
Worth $0 acquisition-wise. Sellers think 50k monthly visitors = leverage. Buyers think 50k monthly visitors with zero list = liability. If you're selling in 2026 — add an exit-intent capture yesterday.
Operator-friendly terms: 18-month payback, 1.8x cap, no board seat, no veto. Looking for newsletters with 5k+ subs, >$2k MRR, niche focus (B2B / vertical SaaS / dev tools). DM with deck or numbers.