I sold my product, Claritask, for x25 it's ARR.
Hey friends,
This past Monday I sold my product to a bigger company and exited fully after running it solo for 2 years and building it for 3.5. Money from this exit will allow me to focus more comfortably on my next products and it couldn't have happened at a better time: I was itching for something new. And now having the comfort of a longer runway is really nice for a change.
On Monday I'm on Fernanda's podcast over at IndieStack. The podcast will be live-streamed on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/indiestack at 4pm EST.
I haven't released any details about the sale of Claritask beyond this tweet https://twitter.com/valsopi/status/1371504296278249477.
So, Fernanda will be the first one I'll be talking to publicly about it.
Ask in the comments below about any questions you'd like me to answer in the show. They could be about the sale, consulting on the side and making Saas products, building products while raising a family... anything really around indie bootstrapping products.
I've been building/failing/succeeding since 2013 and have had my share of bruises that I can talk about, so maybe my lessons could help you navigate better this indiehacking game we're playing.
I'm not active as much here on IH, but to get a gist about my journey, my tweets are the most telling probably, if you want to know more.
I'm hoping for the podcast episode to be helpful in information for anyone working on a product and looking for ways to monetize it and exit/sell eventually.
Awesome work man. Were you actively trying to find a buyer or did they approach you?
Great question! Thank @huttie. Will cover this bit as well.
If your ARR was $10 that's a whole $250 :D haha either way, make sure to share the full episode here on IH when it's done! most of us can't listen-in live :( Timezones
HAHA @orliesaurus : ) That's the bit that is tricky when not sharing numbers. Will try to share as much as I can. Trying to share around the context of what the sale does for me, my family, etc. The amount of runway it gives me ahead. Those could be helpful I believe. I could slip in a rough number if conditions are right. I will also try to talk about why I stopped sharing my numbers publicly.
Also, will repost here the Indiestack podcast episode, once it's up.
Great work!
Were there any employees in the company that went along with the sale? Or were they buying the asset/product?
What do you feel they valued most in the deal, the technology, the current customer base or the brand?
Thanks @topshelf for the question. Will definitely answer this.
Congrats on the sale and that multiple! Did the buyer reach you directly, or did you have Claritask listed on a marketplace/through a broker?
Thank you @alexanderg / will answer that for sure.
The most important variable that hasn't been addressed is what the actual ARR was.
25x on the ARR is an insane multiplier, did you sell a potential unicorn?
Ha! : ) Who knows @FarouqAldori // The company that bought it, they def have the resources to push it forward. I would be disappointed if they don't, because I wanted a good home for Claritask.
I stopped sharing numbers in the past few months, but have documented some of it in my podcast.
Honestly real numbers are weird because an actual sum could mean different things to different people, based on their lifestyle, etc.
I will def share some context in the episode.
Congrats man, that's a wicked multiplier!
Thanks @harvellocapello! Appreciate it. I definitely lucked out. But, was ready for a few things as well.
That's awesome! I want to learn more! Is this podcast published anywhere besides twitch? I can't listen to podcasts at human speed anymore.
Hi! Yes - I'll be releasing the audio next week on the brand new IndieStack podcast. I'll post it here when I release it. :)
Thanks @Fgraciolli! : ) Looking forward to our chat
Hey @DavidNichol I believe you'll be able to find it a few days after the stream on that twitch https://www.twitch.tv/indiestack/videos. There are some previous ones there as well.
Hey @Fgraciolli is there a podcast where this ep will appear as well?
I'm so happy for you @valsopi! You've been working on this like crazy since the beginning, polished it into a very reliable product. It's well deserved that you could make a good exit 😃.
Really curious about your next thing too.
Thanks so much for the support and kind words @dagorenouf. It's been a bit of a wild ride. Yeah, super excited to have the room ahead for experimenting with a few new products.