7 builders who never spoke to each other

Aim at early profit rather than at an exit

A category has room for many small profitable operators, so reaching profitability within months and growing organically is a legitimate destination rather than a consolation. Flat growth and heavy fixed costs both pull a sale price down, which makes them worth watching from the first month, and founders who do sell should expect a long flat stretch rather than an immediate second act.

The method

1. 01

   Aim for profitability early and organic growth rather than an exit, on the basis that a category has room for many small profitable players.

2. 02

   Flat growth and heavy fixed costs both pull the sale price down, so treat them as exit factors from the first month rather than at the end.

3. 03

   Founders who sell the company they built should expect a long flat stretch afterwards rather than an immediate next act.

4. 04

   Fix in advance the maximum share of the company you will sell, and split it across several investors rather than one to widen the network you buy.

5. 05

   If you do raise, raise for the network and the expertise rather than the cash, and only when growth has outrun what you know how to do.

What it returned

• 2020

  SparkToro started in April 2020 and was profitable by that September, five months in, with month on month growth around 10%.

• 13

  He sold his shares in PSPDFKit after 13 years, with Insight acquiring the majority, and says a year off is common and that in his case it took longer

• 15

  AJ and his partner settled on selling roughly 15 to 20 percent, which kept them in clear majority control and left room for a later round without heavy dilution.

• 2021

  AJ had bootstrapped every previous product and deleted investor emails, then raised in early 2021 when infrastructure, moderation and hiring questions piled up; one investor connected him to an AWS engineering team and others to CTOs who advised on hiring developers.

Sources

• How I Learned to Make MoneyAlex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · The Hidden Bonus of Bootstrapping · 2011-10-01
• Startups should make moneyJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Where to start · undated
• Finding My Spark Again | Peter SteinbergerPeter Steinberger · steipete.me · The Emptiness After · 2025-06-01
• Kim Kardashian turned a small business into a VC-backed company - Fathom AnalyticsAJ · usefathom.com · What are you willing to give up? · 2021-08-16
• Privacy Stories: Sparktoro - Fathom AnalyticsRand Fishkin · usefathom.com · SparkToro’s business beginnings and bucking off of the unicorn · 2021-05-13
• Building a Nutrition B2B SaaS That No One DemandedAlex Hu · failory.com · When did things start to go in the wrong direction? · undated
• 3 lessons learned selling 3 SaaS productsLuca Restagno · solopreneurtofreedom.com · 3. Exit value · 2023-12-17