Bootstrapping from $0 to 1M+ ARR while #buildinginprivate?

I am not a developer and had very little experience in the SaaS space prior to starting my bootstrapped journey in 2019 with $6,000. I grew my SaaS to $140,000+ MRR between Stripe and PayPal with over $80,000,000+ GVM on 95% margins and exited for seven figures this year.

While this wasn't my first business and I had many failures before, I previously exited another smaller partnership in the same space for a decent amount. So, I learned from my mistakes and found my niche in the FinTech/Payments/Creator space as a platform operator and applied everything I learned to this new SaaS.

Realistically, I am just a project manager who likes to come up with ideas and am involved from ideation to implementation, and deadlines are sacred to me.

I built my startup before the whole #buildinpublic trend, and let me tell you, it came with its own set of challenges as a solopreneur:
-Limited feedback from the community
-Reduced visibility and lack of public profile
-Missed collaboration opportunities
-Slower trust-building
-No building/release hype
-Reduced peer support or advice
-Developing in an echo chamber

What #buildinginprivate did have going for it:
-First mover advantage
-Market surprise
-Lack of public scrutiny
-Falling into feature request rabbit holes

I decided it was time to list the business for sale and exit. There were several reasons why I wanted to exit, but the main thing was that I felt I no longer enjoyed what I was doing despite the success, and I was spending so much of my time obsessing over it.

I decided to list the business for sale first on MicroAcquire. After having never experienced M&A before and spending 11+ months going through different buyers and constantly researching the SOP for these types of deals, I learned a lot firsthand about what to do and what not to do, what to look for, what to ask for, what to say, and what not to say. I had meetings with VCs, angel investors, competitors, family offices, portfolio groups, and investors who just wanted the product to strip it for its components. After many meetings, I decided to list on BizBuySell along with others.

I finally listed with Flippa.com, where I was given a dedicated agent team. (This was before MicroAcquire had teams to assist.) They ultimately did the vetting and pre-screening before I ever even had to speak to a buyer who may or may not have been qualified or a good fit. Just this process alone can save founders countless hours of work, when they should be focusing on continuing to run their business without taking on a second job (or twelfth job in the case of bootstrapped founders) trying to learn the ins and outs of M&A. Big shout out to Fiona Laidlaw for helping achieve this dream.

If I had to do it over again, I would certainly go with building in public, so that is what I plan on doing, and hopefully, you'll follow me along the way while I help share what I have learned with everyone while #buildinginpublic my new social channels.

My next goal is to build up my new channel in 2024: youtube.com/@SaaS
where I can interview founders, share ideas and tips and feature new startups.