Being late to the thread, so probably nobody will read it. Anyway:
Looks like there are very few corporations out there, that are able and willing to buy such SaaS products. Remember how long 37Signals tried to get rid of their jobs-site and various non-Basecamp products? Nobody wanted to pay the price despite that the businesses were profitable.
Maybe the USP of those products is tied to extensive niche knowledge and networking. Both is very hard to transfer.
Potential acquirers usually know nothing about the market and also know, that they will need some very good developers and marketers to keep the revenue stream alive, because the previous owners really set a high benchmark for that.
In both cases I personally would have tried to transfer the business to current employees in exchange for a commission based on the future revenues paid over 5 years. Both parties involved know how the business works and can project the future success better than everyone else out there. There is usually also enough trust and communication culture in place.
However, this is not a "quick" exit and the seller is still connected to the business/people for a long time. That risk needs to be covered by the commission, of course.
Looks like there are very few corporations out there, that are able and willing to buy such SaaS products. Remember how long 37Signals tried to get rid of their jobs-site and various non-Basecamp products? Nobody wanted to pay the price despite that the businesses were profitable.
Maybe the USP of those products is tied to extensive niche knowledge and networking. Both is very hard to transfer. Potential acquirers usually know nothing about the market and also know, that they will need some very good developers and marketers to keep the revenue stream alive, because the previous owners really set a high benchmark for that.
In both cases I personally would have tried to transfer the business to current employees in exchange for a commission based on the future revenues paid over 5 years. Both parties involved know how the business works and can project the future success better than everyone else out there. There is usually also enough trust and communication culture in place.
However, this is not a "quick" exit and the seller is still connected to the business/people for a long time. That risk needs to be covered by the commission, of course.