Practitioner pattern · Josh Peleg (Heads M&A at BlueThrone, an app acquirer he pitches as a buyer for founders during the episode)
Pick a buyer type, study its last 5 deals, and start talking a year early
Guest's favorite deals came from founders he'd messaged with for ~12 months
Workedexit-ma
What they did
Choose the buyer type that fits: aggregators/holdcos (traffic, recurring revenue, clean books, room to 10x), strategics (highest multiples via synergies), or private equity (predictable cash flow, strong EBITDA; founder stays 3-5 years). Read each target's last five deals to see why they bought, then build the metric narrative they want (e.g. for Strava: beginners onboarded and graduating to 5K). Start relationships 6-12 months before the sale. Ask buyers what moved the needle on past deals (ads, price tests, features) to know what they'd do with your app.
What happened
Guest says some of his favorite deals were with founders he'd known for ~12 months.
“start building the network, start building the relationship maybe 12 months to 6 months in advance”
“find your targets, read about their last five deals, try and understand why they bought what they bought”
“some of my favorite deals I did with founders I knew for like 12 months, and we just exchanged messages for a long period of time and kind of built a relationship.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Flo: Pitch the app as #1 in women's health instead of competing in all of healthBecame the first women's health unicorn: $200M+ raised at a $1B+ valuation
- Runna: Aim the app at first-time runners doing couch to 5K, not all sportsEarned a strong valuation; Strava bought it to reach beginner runners
- Waking Up: Charge $20 a month or $150 a year for a meditation app~25K downloads a month bring in over $1M a month (Sensor Tower estimate)
- Waking Up: Build the app around a trusted podcaster, and put his voice in the first sessionTiny download numbers earn $200K-$1M+ a month; creator-dependence makes the app harder to sell
- Flo: Run over 100 experiments a monthGuest cites it as part of what made it a top health app; no direct numbers
- Strava: Buy a beginner running app so new runners later move up to your app
- MyFitnessPal: Buy a viral food-scanning app for its knack for pulling in new users
- MyFitnessPal: Sell the app again after its growth has already slowedResold for over $100M less than the $475M paid five years earlier
- BlueThrone: Buy apps that already found fans, then add a full team to grow themWorked really well, per the guest; no portfolio numbers given
- BlueThrone: Buy apps that get lots of downloads but lose users, then fix the productA couple of such deals brought outsized returns for founder and buyer, per the guest
- If you charge under $10 a month, test $20 on 10-20% of users
- Use weekly plans for apps people need for a short time, like datingWorks well in dating and follower-tracking apps; fine for cash flow, weaker for an exit
- Once a TikTok works, spin up 20 to 100 more videos on the same ideaBuyers value a repeatable viral machine over one-off hits; no numbers given