M&A advisory / sell-side advisor
Run a boutique M&A advisory firm representing small business sellers, monetized via success fees on transactions.
The idea, in plain language
The business is a boutique advisory or brokerage helping owners sell websites, SaaS companies, or small businesses, earning success fees and possibly consulting fees around valuation, preparation, and negotiation. Customers are founders and small-business owners who need help understanding valuation, buyer fit, deal process, succession, margins, and negotiation. Starting requires deal knowledge, trust, buyer networks, financial organization, and sales discipline more than software; the videos cite over $1B in closed website and SaaS deal volume, a $75B uniform-rental empire as an industry example, and multiple company-sale mistakes, but no specific advisory fee percentage. The MFM clips skew toward founder exit lessons, while Starter Story gives the clearest broker business model.
Where the sources agree
- Preparation and clean financials improve a seller's outcome.
- Negotiation quality matters, including anchoring, knowing the decision-maker, and avoiding desperate signals.
- A business that can run without the owner is more sellable.
Where they differ
- Starter Story profiles a full M&A brokerage for websites and SaaS, while MFM mostly shares seller-side mistakes and negotiation lessons.
- Some advice is process-oriented, such as valuation and spotting good businesses, while other advice is emotional, such as detachment and burnout after a sale.
- The succession-planning segment is about making a company owner-independent, not necessarily brokering a transaction.
- The examples range from online business brokerage to uniform rental industry analysis and general founder exit regrets.
What each source says
indie-hackers#027 – The Do's and Don'ts of Selling Your Company with Thomas Smale
Thomas Smale, founder of FE International, shares what he has learned about buying and selling online businesses and how sellers can maximise their exit price in small-to-mid SaaS M&A.
Listen on Indie HackersStarter StoryZero to $1.1B from Flipping Websites
Thomas Smale's brokerage story shows a website and SaaS M&A firm reaching over $1B in closed deal volume while focusing on valuation, negotiation, and buyer education.
Watch on YouTubeMFMThe Market Is Crashing. Here’s What We’re Doing About It…
The business segment uses Cintas and UniFirst's $75B uniform-rental empire plus succession planning to explain making a company run without the owner.
Watch on YouTubeMFMMy $100M Mistake + 6 Company Exit F**k Ups To Avoid (#522)
Sam and Shaan turn their own exit mistakes into seller advice about QSBS, offer quality, negotiation discomfort, organization, margins, and remote closings.
Watch on YouTubeMFMFavorite Finds: McDonald's Employee Goes Viral, Pelosi's Finances & How To Close A Deal (#498)
The roundup references CFO Secrets on M&A negotiation as one practical item among broader favorite finds.
Watch on YouTubeMFMI Sold My Company For Millions... Here's What I Did Wrong
Sam's sale post-mortem emphasizes anchoring, strategic sales process, emotional traps, detachment, and burnout after selling.
Watch on YouTubeMFMHow to Sell Your Startup for Millions (#466)
The episode is a how-to on selling a startup for millions, covering timing, who to engage, nurturing acquirer dependence, doing pre-close work, negotiating, and choosing between full and partial exits.
Watch on YouTubeTools people use for this
Personal fit
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