[Legacy] How to Buy Startups

How to Buy, Grow, and Sell Small Companies

A course by Ryan Kulp, founder of Fomo.com and lead marketing instructor at GrowthX Academy.

What you'll learn

How to source

Identifying the perfect business for your skill set is hard. I'll show you how to build, scale, and optimize deal flow to maximize options and not settle.

How to negotiate

Finding a project is only half the battle -- now you have to agree on price and terms. Use my battle-tested legal templates and email scripts to get the best deal.

How to grow

You closed a deal -- congrats! Now you need to scale it to achieve a healthy return on your investment. I'll help you become a lean operator and build a 100 day marketing plan.

Featured transactions

Announcements for deals we've done since 2018.

Notify (Shopify app, rebranded to Fomo, acquired by Relay Commerce)
Lobiloo (florist SaaS, acquired by Fable Flower Farms)

Cross Sell (Shopify app, acquired by SureSwift Capital)

Color My Slime (ecommerce store)

Cookie Consent (GDPR regulation plugin)

Built with Shopify (ecommerce interview resource)

Refurther (strategic competitor)

Conversion Booster (strategic competitor)
Merge Freeze (GitHub plugin for developers)
GetReviews (SaaS marketing tool for online sellers)

$3,000+ bonus content

Not a typo. We paid lawyers thousands of dollars to create contract templates for different deal structures. As a student, it's all yours.

Learn more

Alumni Testimonials

Mike Rubini

This course was probably worth 5-10x the price... the scorecards and pipeline management resources will save you HOURS and help you avoid financial mistakes... basically a fast-track for getting to a place where I feel confident about evaluating prospects and making solid offers.

James Sowers

Education for every step of the acquisition process

1. Thesis

Analyze your skills, form a target acquisition (size, industry, etc), and learn to form a legal entity.

2. Sourcing

Build a pipeline of inbound, outbound, and referral deal flow. Includes email scripts, evaluation strategy, and financial markers.

3. Negotiation and diligence

Case studies of our own deals, financial forecast modeling templates, valuation strategies, diligence checklist, and $3,000 worth of legal templates.

4. Financing and closing

Techniques to fund and structure your deals for maximum returns, from tax strategy (taught by a CPA) to same-day asset transfer and investor management.

5. Relaunch and scale

Learn to operate a multi-company portfolio without losing sleep. Identify power users, build a go-to-market plan, file IP, and re-invest.

6. Exit strategy

Determine whether to flip or "hold forever" for optimal returns. Streamline operations to shift investments from active to passive. Increase the intrinsic value of your projects with competitive differentiation.

Course curriculum

Module 1 - Getting Started

Learn why buying is better than building, and set up your entity with a targeted thesis.

Welcome to the Micro PE course!

Preview

[Case Study] Moving resources from low yield to high yield

[Interview] Buying online businesses is the easiest path to entrepreneurship

4 reasons to buy vs build

How to choose a niche

Creating your investment thesis

Setting up an umbrella company (USA)

Setting up an umbrella company (AU)

Setting up an umbrella company (CA)

Setting up an umbrella company (UK)

Setting up an umbrella company (other countries)

Deal process overview

[Bonus] Industry reports

Module 1: Quiz

Module 2 - Sourcing

Build a deal flow machine - automate leads, systematically manage timelines, and build a reputation.

Dealflow pipeline tracker

Manual dealflow

Automated dealflow

Preview

Lead outreach and followup

[Bonus] Email scripts for seller outreach

Sourcing ecommerce stores on Shopify

[Bonus] Finding off-market dealflow (SaaS / Brick&Mortar)

Develop a reputation for speed

Identifying red flags

Module 2: Quiz

Module 3 - Negotiation and Diligence

Determine a valuation, research the competition, and de-risk the opportunity before making a final decision.

[Case Study] Negotiation teardown

How to value a small company

Quantitative deal analysis

Qualitative deal analysis

[Bonus] Deal analysis templates (software + ecommerce)

[Bonus] Ecom vs SaaS vs Content Due Diligence

Diligence checklist

How to value ecommerce apps: Part 1

How to value ecommerce apps: Part 2

Getting legal work done without lawyers

[Bonus] NDA, LOI, Asset Purchase, Phantom Stock, Equity Partner legal templates ($3k+ value)

Module 3: Quiz

Module 4 - Financing and Closing

Creative ways to fund your acquisition and experience a smooth transfer of assets.

Strategies to fund your deals

How to use financial leverage

Preview

[Bonus] Getting an SBA loan

Brokers, escrow, and trust

Setting up a support package

[Bonus] Tax strategies for your new entity (USA)

Creating a day 0 roadmap

[Bonus] Managing investor interest

Module 4: Quiz

Module 5 - Relaunch and Scale

Clean up ship, exploit the best opportunities, and become a domain expert.

[Bonus] Portfolio conventions and organization

Create a customer soundboard

[Case Study] Identifying power users

Relaunch Step 1: Makeover

Preview

Relaunch Step 2: Add value

Makeover quickstart

Over-investing during relaunch

Relaunch Step 3: Go to market

Developing a 90 day marketing plan

Developer Talent: Introduction

Preview

Developer Talent: Terminology

Developer Talent: Writing a technical spec

Developer Talent: Data modeling

Developer Talent: ERD creation

[Bonus] Data modeling examples

Developer Talent: Wireframing

Developer Talent: Hiring

Developer Talent: Pricing and negotiations

[Bonus] Anatomy of a patent filing

Developer Talent: Managing, scaling, retaining

Module 5: Quiz

Module 6 - Exit Strategy

Extract maximum value through a "hold forever" or "flip" strategy, and the required steps to achieve either.

Deciding to hold or flip your asset

Growth Share Matrix

Turning active investments into passive investments

3 ways to fend off competition

[Exit Interview] - Niche content acquisition (DIY Beer Brewing)

[Exit Interview] - Acquiring 2 products in 60 days

[Bonus] Making your company sellable

[Bonus] 4 lessons from a sale gone bad

Module 6: Quiz

Rainmakers Club

Thank you + next steps

[NEW] Introducing Fork Connect