The truth about VC-backed "9-figure exits"


When a VC-backed founder becomes a ‘thought leader’ right after their ‘9-figure exit’, here’s what they aren’t telling you:

  • We sold the company for $100M (their “9-figure exit”)
  • But we had to pay our Series A/B investors $63M
  • We also paid our seed investors $10M
  • Then, we divided $27M between 3 - as we’re 3 co-founders
  • That’s $9M each
  • With 37% capital gains tax; that’s another $3.3M less
  • So $5.7M pre-debt
  • But since we didn’t take a salary for the first 2 years and had to take a $500K personal loan –> We made $4.8M in the end

The truth about SaaS exits and “9-figure exits”

Reality check:

  • 7 years of your life
  • 65% dilution
  • Lost control of your company
  • $686K per year pre-tax
  • Endless board meetings
  • 120 people to manage
  • $800K monthly burn rate
  • Constant fundraising stress

Meanwhile, bootstrapped founders:

  • Keep 100% ownership
  • Hit $3M-5M ARR
  • Take home $1M-3M/year
  • Run lean teams (<10 people)
  • Build with customer money
  • Focus on unit economics
  • Exit option for $30-40M always available
  • Complete freedom to choose their path
  • No board to answer to

The real “9-figure” number to focus on?

The 99% of VC-backed startups that don’t even get this far.

Build for freedom, not exits.

Alex Turnbull

Founder and CEO, Groove and Helply

P.S. 1,736 people have reacted to this post on LinkedIn (and they've left over 200 comments). I think it struck a cord. Check it out here and leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you.

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Alex Turnbull

$0 to $5M ARR bootstrapped, solo founder. My new challenge: bootstrapping a new SaaS in public from $0 to $10M ARR in 3 years w/ 50%+ profit margins. Founder & CEO @ GrooveHQ.com & Helply.com 👋 I'm Alex, and here's my story in a nutshell: - Founded 3 businesses: one sold for 8-figures, the other valued at $40M+, and my latest is just starting up - Early #buildinpublic founder with Groove’s Journey to 100K blog - Featured in 100+ media outlets 📈 $0-$5M ARR without funding with Groove 🎯My new challenge: Bootstrapping a new SaaS in public from Zero to $10M ARR in 3 years w/ 50%+ EBITDA 💸 Sharing my learnings on building highly profitable, capital efficient, lean, bootstrapped SaaS business What you'll get by subscribing to my newsletter: 🚀 Actionable tips to grow a profitable SaaS business 📚 Education around the future of AI in customer service 🔥 Transparent & actionable advice, no fluff 💼 Exclusive updates on growth Ready to build the highly profitable, capital-efficient, bootstrapped SaaS of your dreams? I’ll be sending a weekly newsletter documenting my journey from Zero to $10M ARR with Helply and business growth tips + tricks - so hit that “Subscribe” button!

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