Acquire Academy/Acquire.com Academy - How to Buy, Grow, and Sell Startups

  • Free

How to Buy, Grow, and Sell Startups

  • Course
  • 60 Lessons

A course by Ryan Kulp, founder of Fomo.com and partner at Fork Equity, a micro PE fund.

What you'll learn

How to Buy, Grow, and Sell Startups is a comprehensive lecture series that teaches entrepreneurs to build a portfolio of cash generating assets.

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 life-changing deals we've done since 2016.

Notify (Shopify app, rebranded to Fomo, acquired by Relay Commerce)
Lobiloo
(florist SaaS, acquired by Fable Flower Farms)
Color My Slime (ecommerce store)
Cookie Consent (GDPR regulation plugin)
Built with Shopify (ecommerce interview resource)
Refurther (Fomo strategic competitor)
Conversion Booster (Fomo strategic competitor)
Merge Freeze (GitHub plugin for developers, sold on Acquire.com)
GetReviews (Feedback tool for Amazon sellers, bought on Acquire.com)

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 dilligence

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.

Alumni Testimonials

Read more reviews here.
Great course! I'm a "starter" and I enjoy building tech products. This course changed my perspective and I'm now looking forward to apply the knowledge in the course to acquire micro SaaS out there.

Mike Rubini

10/10 useful material. Great information for anyone who wants to be their own boss!

Sam Cohen

The content of this course was extremely valuable and actionable. I especially liked the content order, how it walks you through the whole process. 10/10.

Scott Finney

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

Love the course. Ryan put in a ton of effort to organize all his experience in a structured way to easily follow. He also generously shared his paid templates and other artifacts. For a small price I could leverage Ryan's wealthy knowledge. What a stupid ROI :-)

Sateesh Kumar

Overall really solid content and great course! It will help my decision making going forward as I will eventually have a micro PE fund of my own. Deal structuring and financial leverage were highlights of the course to me.

Kimia Hamidi

About Ryan Kulp

I've been sharing everything I know since 2012 when I started my first blog. Since then I've written 100s of essays on growth, product, and leadership, and founded or worked at dozens of tech companies.

Although originally by accident, buying and growing small companies has become my entire career strategy.
Notify to Fomo case study

Case Study - Fomo

In 2016 I bought Notify. We scaled 600%+ to over $100,000 per month recurring revenue, thousands of customers, and a patent. In 2022 it was acquired by Relay commerce.
Lobiloo acquisition case study

Case Study - Lobiloo

In 2018 I bought Lobiloo, a floral invoicing tool. We grew it 2x, automated customer support, and sold it to Fable Flower Farms.
Cross Sell Shopify acquisition

Case Study - Cross Sell

In 2017 I bought Cross Sell with debt, cash, and sweat equity. We rebuilt it from scratch, doubled pricing, grew 155%, and sold it to Sureswift Capital.

Curriculum

Skip years of learning the Hard Way with timeless lessons by seasoned PE operators.

Module 1 - Getting Started (Updated)

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

Welcome to the Micro PE course!
  • 2 mins
  • 137 MB
[Case Study] Moving resources from low yield to high yield
  • 4 mins
  • 38.6 MB
Why buy vs build
  • 13 mins
  • 1.27 GB
How to choose a niche
  • 7 mins
  • 39.7 MB
Creating your investment thesis
  • 4 mins
  • 38.6 MB
Setting up an umbrella company (USA)
  • 13 mins
  • 1.29 GB
Setting up an umbrella company (Australia)
  • 5 mins
  • 43.4 MB
Setting up an umbrella company (Canada)
  • 11 mins
  • 366 MB
Deal process overview
  • 10 mins
  • 76.8 MB

Module 2 - Sourcing (Updated)

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

Dealflow pipeline tracker
  • 4 mins
  • 56.3 MB
Registering as a buyer on Acquire.com
  • 4 mins
  • 49.9 MB
Customizing acquisition search filters on Acquire.com
  • 2 mins
  • 20.3 MB
Getting instant deal alerts on Acquire.com
  • 2 mins
  • 19.7 MB
Sending a letter of intent on Acquire.com
  • 4 mins
  • 54.5 MB
Lead outreach and followup
  • 8 mins
  • 56.2 MB
[Bonus] Email scripts for seller outreach
    Develop a reputation for speed
    • 10 mins
    • 53.2 MB
    Identifying red flags
    • 12 mins
    • 104 MB
    Why Startups Choose to Sell on Acquire.com
    • 1 min
    • 5.05 MB

    Module 3 - Negotiations and Diligence (Updated)

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

    [Case Study] Negotiation teardown
    • 12 mins
    • 277 MB
    How to value a small company
    • 10 mins
    • 64.9 MB
    Qualitative deal analysis
    • 2 mins
    • 36.6 MB
    Quantitative deal analysis
    • 11 mins
    • 163 MB
    [Bonus] Ecom vs SaaS vs Content Due Diligence
    • 17 mins
    • 78.9 MB
    How to value ecommerce apps - Part 1
    • 13 mins
    • 1.29 GB
    How to value ecommerce apps - Part 2
    • 24 mins
    • 339 MB
    Getting legal work done without lawyers
    • 8 mins
    • 108 MB
    Deal analysis templates

      Module 4 - Financing and Closing (Updated)

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

      Strategies to fund your deal
      • 15 mins
      • 76.9 MB
      How to use financial leverage
      • 6 mins
      • 36.9 MB
      Getting an SBA loan
      • 27 mins
      • 200 MB
      Brokers, escrow, and trust
      • 5 mins
      • 415 MB
      Setting up a post-transfer support package
        Tax strategies for your new entity
        • 24 mins
        • 417 MB
        Creating a Day 0 Roadmap
          Managing investors
          • 6 mins
          • 34.4 MB

          Module 5 - Relaunch and Scale (Updated)

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

          Portfolio conventions and organization
          • 9 mins
          • 292 MB
          Create a customer soundboard
          • 6 mins
          • 528 MB
          Relaunch Step 1: Makeover
          • 12 mins
          • 177 MB
          Relaunch Step 2: Add Value
          • 11 mins
          • 103 MB
          Over-investing during relaunch
          • 3 mins
          • 284 MB
          Relaunch Step 3 - go to market
          • 7 mins
          • 621 MB
          Developing a 90 day marketing plan
          • 39 mins
          • 190 MB
          Introduction to working with developer talent
          • 6 mins
          • 574 MB
          Developer terminology
          • 28 mins
          • 2.72 GB
          Writing technical specs
          • 35 mins
          • 971 MB
          Introduction to data modeling
          • 20 mins
          • 96.9 MB
          ERD creation
          • 10 mins
          • 253 MB
          Introduction to Wireframing
          • 45 mins
          • 1.16 GB
          Hiring developers
          • 24 mins
          • 90 MB
          Negotiating with developers
          • 7 mins
          • 190 MB
          Managing, scaling, and retaining developer talent
          • 30 mins
          • 2.8 GB
          Anatomy of a patent
          • 22 mins
          • 234 MB

          Module 6 - Exit Strategy (Updated)

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

          Deciding whether to hold or flip your asset
          • 12 mins
          • 468 MB
          Turning active investments into passive investments
          • 7 mins
          • 208 MB
          Fending off competition
          • 3 mins
          • 71.5 MB
          Niche content acquisition - DIY homebrewing
          • 48 mins
          • 523 MB
          Acquiring two products in 60 days
          • 20 mins
          • 68.5 MB
          Making your company sellable
          • 8 mins
          • 56.9 MB
          4 Lessons from a sale gone bad
          • 12 mins
          • 111 MB