Most people think selling a startup is a big, exciting event. Andrew Gazdecki will tell you it's usually slow, opaque, and weirdly stuck in the past. He sold his first SaaS company, went through the whole painful process, and decided to build the platform he wished existed. That became Acquire.com.
I've been watching since the MicroAcquire days and through the rebrand to Acquire. It's one of those companies that's genuinely nice to see grow because it's giving founders a real path to building something sustainable and actually being able to sell it when the time comes. We work with them on all sides of the table, as buyers, sellers, and brokers, so we've seen firsthand how it works.
In this conversation, Andrew talks about why more money doesn't solve more problems, what actually makes a company sellable, how saying no became his biggest growth lever, and why his son naming the cat "Combo" might be the most grounding thing in his life right now.
What's your story in 30 seconds?
I’m a repeat founder who started, scaled, and sold a SaaS company, then built Acquire.com to help other founders do the same. I’ve raised venture, bootstrapped, had wins, taken hits, and learned that execution beats everything. Today I run Acquire profitably with a small team, focused on helping founders exit on their terms. I believe in moving fast, keeping things simple, and building real businesses that solve real problems.
What does your company do and why does it need to exist?
Acquire.com is a marketplace for buying and selling startups. We help founders sell their companies without brokers, crazy fees, or months of back and forth. And we help serious buyers find vetted, revenue-generating businesses in one place. It needs to exist because most founders have no clear path to liquidity. You can build something real, get profitable, and still have no idea how to sell it. The traditional M&A world is built for big companies, not bootstrapped founders doing $500K to $5M a year. We make exits accessible. Simple process. Transparent data. Direct founder-to-buyer conversations. Build something great. Then have a real option to sell it.
What moment made you decide to actually start it?
When I sold my first SaaS company. The process was opaque, slow, and controlled by gatekeepers. Brokers wanted huge fees. Buyers were hard to find. There was no simple place online where you could list a real software company and connect directly with serious acquirers. It felt crazy. We can spin up a company in a weekend. Launch globally. Process payments instantly. But selling a startup? That felt stuck in 1995. So I built the platform I wish existed when I was selling. Something simple. Transparent. Founder-first. That was the moment.
What's something about your industry that outsiders don't understand?
Most outsiders think startup acquisitions are big, flashy, headline deals. They’re not. The majority of exits are quiet. Profitable. $500K to $5M a year in revenue. Built by small teams. Sometimes solo founders. No press release. No TechCrunch article.
Published by Arian Adeli, Andrew Gazdecki