I acquired my first company for $5000
by Louis LafontHello there, my name is Louis, and for the first time, I'm not starting (completely) from scratch. I bought https://quickapi.io from @mddanishyusuf a few weeks ago.
Yes, I bought a company on Twitter. It may seem risky, but I actually was following Danish's journey for the last year, which contributed a lot to building trust.
Why buy when you can build?
- Domain name alone is probably worth $5k.
- 250 (free) users
- The product itself is working without requiring dev time
- Side-riding Mohd's recognizable and trustworthy brand.
- Most importantly: I had $5k I could spend without risking my lifestyle.
I've been launching many different projects in the last 2 years, and none have generated significant revenue. So how about I throw even more money out the window, you ask?
aka: so you think this will work this time?
Yes and no.
Yes, because I've learned a ton in the last 2y. Not from people, but from experience. Practice is the only way. For one, I've stopped shipping countless features unless I've understood who they are for.
Also, I wouldn't spend time on it if I didn't think it would work.
No, because I know it's a game of stats. Many know that people considered successful have launched lots of projects before. Just yesterday: https://twitter.com/tibo_maker/status/1614967014031822848.
Anyway. It's just the start. Happy to answer questions about the acquisition process, Quick API, or any other topics.
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Good move!
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Thanks @deepakmaratha48, only time will tell. 😏
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Buying a company like Quick API can be a way to acquire an established product and user base, as well as potentially benefit from the existing brand and reputation of the founder. However, it's important to note that there are always risks involved in any business venture, and success is not guaranteed. It's great that you are open to answering questions and sharing your experience with others. Good luck with your new venture!
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Well put. And you're absolutely right. No success guaranteed. I'm only putting on the table what I'm willing to lose. No "all in bet" for me.
That said, I'm going to put in the necessary efforts to make it worth it.I'm sharing because it certainly feels scary, but still easier than most think.
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This is awesome - best of luck!
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Great deal! Also think that the product is pretty interesting. What are the first moves you are going to make?
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Thank you @rgmvisser. Doing a deep dive into the code right now. Getting in touch with users and understanding the reason they signed up.
Then smooth out the onboarding process,
Finally, adding APIs as sources so it's easy to monetize existing APIs.
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Looks very cool! Congrats on the launch. :))
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I haven't heard about this product before so it will be interesting to follow you along and hear about it more. Congratulations by the way!
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Sure, I'll keep posting here and on twitter https://twitter.com/dot_louis 🐦
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Congrats! This is a great deal!
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Definitely interesting to see these micro acquisitions!
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Oh Good luck, the domain name is really good !
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Congrats! That's a good deal!
What's your plan for Quick API? How are you going to make it profitable?
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Good question. Right now I'm focused on understanding the free users and their needs. Dig the problems so I can get good positioning.
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Bravo! 5k for that is a great deal !
I mean there are lots of work done on backend for such kind of website
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Mohd definitely worked a good deal, and the result is top-notch!
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Domain is easy to remember and short. Product is also nice. Good deal!
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Yess, love that name
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This is fantastic. I had no cue that these platforms existed for selling small businesses. Good luck with your venture.
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Which platform ? I used none (except for Twitter), even though there are (microacquire, tinyacquisition). But for very small amounts like this, it may not be useful.
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Looking forward to see you making big buck out of this project Louis!
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Thank you @codewithbhargav. I certainly hope I can make some money!
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250 (free) users - does it mean that they weren't paid users? Best of luck for your venture and we look forward hearing your story.
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This looks amazing. Now we're looking forward to future updates about this platform, I hope you scale it to something much bigger. Wishing you all the best.
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I will certainly keep you updated with the news. Stay tuned 👀
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I'm curious why the seller sold it. By the looks of it, it's probably worth way more than 5k -- maybe, 25k.
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By Mohd's words: https://twitter.com/mddanishyusuf/status/1595821787144945664
B2B is not my cup of tea.
So, I'm not working on QuickAPI from now.He's very prolific, as you can see on his personal website: https://mvpstack.io
So it makes sense not to scatter his efforts too much.Also, he was offered up to $75k, I think. I just was first on the deal, and Mohd is an honest guy.
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Congrats man. Inspiring story. Thanks for sharing 🔥
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You're welcome. I plan on sharing the journey here and on Twitter. Feel free to follow https://twitter.com/dot_louis 👋
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Done!
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Congrats on the purchase. An acquisition makes a lot of sense if you have the skills to take the product to the next step.
I'm genuinely interested in the product itself, but i'm still not sure of the problem it might solve for my business. I'm planning to submit form data from a Webflow site to a Google sheet using Make/Integromat - would QuickAPI make this process simpler and more reliable?
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Hey @Hiredgo0on, thanks for your cheering!
And to be perfectly honest, QuickAPI is not for this use-case.
Quick API allows you to transform data (such as CSV, excel sheet, Airtable) INTO an API.
You're trying to do the opposite: send data INTO a google sheet via API (make).-
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Thanks for your reply. Your explanation makes a lot more sense. Good luck!
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Investing $5k in something with potential for growth is a significant decision. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.
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Thank you for your wishes 😊
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This is amazing. Someone's trash is another person's treasure.
I am looking also sell an old website of mine. It gets some decent traffic and it seems a waste to leave it in its current state.
My post: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/find-somewhere-to-sell-a-website-that-isnt-monetized-72d6ba8d47
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Yes you should absolutely put your website on sale somewhere. The worse case ? Nobody wants it and it doesn't change anything to your life.
I too have a few other project I may want to sell.
I have considered microquire.com but I feel they gear towards higher value purchases.
I just discovered tinyacquisitions.com just yesterday. Might want to take a look
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https://quickapi.io you have made a good decision it looks good.
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Thanks @davidalex
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Congrats on taking that big and seemingly risky step. As you mentioned, practice is what matters. So, I hope all that experience acquired can come in handy for making this company a success.
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Thank you Juan. Yes experience makes a hell of a difference. Mainly it helps with knowing what you should do and what you should not.
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Its Looks great and wish you best of luck for your product.
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Thank you @Benfrederick, it means a lot 😎
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What was the MRR of QuickAPI when you acquired it?
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Why did you acquire it? To extend an existing product? Or to make it your own?
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Not sure I understand the difference here. I'm planning to extend the actual capabilities (ie: making an API from raw data) and add new ones. Such as the ability to put another API as a data source to help small indie makers to sell their APIs
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Also, as the founder of Proxycurl, my thoughts are that the data itself is more important than the transport of it. Not sure what your thoughts are.
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Distribution > Product.
Without any good distribution, having good data is probably not worth a lot.
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Congratulations! How did you discover Danish wanted to sell? Or did you provide an impromptu offer? I appreciate you sharing with us. I sincerely hope you'll keep enhancing this fantastic product!
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Thanks @Owlaundry !
Casually browsing Twitter at 01 AM in a Uber. Saw the tweet where Danish was selling. DMed Danish. Got on a call. Acquired.-
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That sounds like the perfect start for a success story :) I wish you the best of luck!
I'm curious, how did you actually execute the transaction? Did you use any mediator, or rather you just trusted each other, and he transferred the domain and software after you completed the payment?-
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Haha, I certainly hope so! ⚡
No middle-man, a lot of trust on my end.
I sent $500 up-front to get the domain name transferred.
Then we went on a call so Modh could explain to me the different parts of the app and the services that went with it. (Hosting, email provider, social accounts, database...)
Finally, I transferred the remaining $4500 to get access to all of that.
We used Wise for the money transfer.
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Congratulations! How did you know Danish was looking to sell? Or did you make an unsolicited offer?
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Hey @NakoQuant, Danish simply has posted a tweet stating he wanted to sell and the stats of the project. I already had seen Quickapi before and told myself that would be a nice project.
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Great acquisition! QuickAPI looks like a promising product. Can't wait to see how it goes
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Thanks Cosmin! Will keep posting updates here :)
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Thanks for sharing with us. I really hope you'll continue improving this good product!
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Thank you Laura !
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Very insightful, hope you will succeed. I'll follow your progress
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Hey! really interesting product. Congrats!
Could you share more about the customer segment you think are using/ will use QuickAPI?
I'm curious who you're trying to sell to? -
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I will sell you easyapi.io for 5k (it's $1,493.23)!
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👀
You should launch something with that domain !
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The domain alone is so worth it. Congrats and good luck
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