EXIT IN SAAS / LIVE
M&A FOR SAAS.
You sell a SaaS company with someone who knows SaaS. Stef Kanen was CFO at several SaaS companies, through to an exit of more than 100 million euros. Now he leads Exit in SaaS.
- LABEL
- Exit in SaaS
- MARKET
- B2B SaaS, HR tech, vertical SaaS, staffing tech
- AT THE TABLE
- Stef Kanen, RA
- ENGINE
- running
- INTAKE
- open
plan a call with stef
01 / AT THE TABLE
SOMEONE WHO DID IT.
You sell your company once. Then you want someone at the table who went through it himself, on your side of the table.
THE FACE OF EXIT IN SAAS
STEF KANEN.
Chartered accountant. Former SaaS CFO. Leads Exit in SaaS.
€100M+
EXIT AS CFO OF A SAAS COMPANY
Stef sat on the seller's side himself, as CFO, until the signature. He knows the questions a buyer asks, because he answered them.
02 / THREE LAYERS
FRONT OFFICE
Stef meets the owner. Someone from SaaS who speaks your language.
MID OFFICE
Strategy, mandate, buyers, marketing. Shaped together.
BACK OFFICE
The engine of The Exit Company. Intake to closing on one platform. AI drafts, people decide.
RUNNING
03 / WHAT CHANGES
M&A 2.0.
A specialist from SaaS at the table, with the deal engine behind it.
| M&A 1.0 | M&A 2.0 | |
|---|---|---|
| AT THE TABLE | A generalist who learns SaaS along the way. | A former SaaS CFO. Knows the trade, the buyers and the language. |
| THE NUMBERS | Revenue and profit, like any company. | Recurring revenue, retention and cohorts. The way a SaaS buyer counts. |
| THE BUYERS | A list from memory. | Software companies, investors and software groups, matched to your profile. |
| DUE DILIGENCE | Code, IP and data surface at the very end. | Code, IP and data ready up front, in one data room. |
| THE WORK | Spreadsheets, inboxes, every deal from scratch. | One track from intake to closing. AI drafts, people decide. |
04 / THE BUYER
WHAT A BUYER WANTS TO SEE.
A SaaS buyer asks different questions than someone buying a construction firm. These five always come back. Pick one.
REVENUE THAT COMES BACK.
A buyer pays for revenue that comes in again next year. Subscriptions and licences weigh more than one-off projects.
DO THIS NOW
Split your revenue into recurring and one-off. Per month, per customer.
CUSTOMERS WHO STAY.
How many customers leave, and does revenue grow with those who stay? That is often the first question.
DO THIS NOW
Track each month who leaves, who joins and who buys more.
CODE THE COMPANY OWNS.
The code, the brand and the domains must belong to the company. Not to a freelancer, and not to you personally.
DO THIS NOW
Check every developer contract: do the rights to the code go to the company?
DATA IN ORDER.
Where does customer data live, who can reach it and what was agreed? A buyer asks all of it.
DO THIS NOW
Put your data processing agreements, hosting and access rights on one list.
A PRODUCT THAT RUNS WITHOUT YOU.
If only you know how it works, the buyer is mostly buying you. Then the handover takes long.
DO THIS NOW
Write down what only you know. Releases, key customers, suppliers.
05 / WHERE WE SELL
FOUR MARKETS.
Subscription software for businesses.
Recruiting, scheduling, payroll and HR.
Software built for one industry.
Software for staffing, secondment and payroll firms.
WHERE YOU COME IN.
Two groups. Owners who want to sell their SaaS company. Specialists who bring the deals.