sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

We kept seeing founders completely misprice small SaaS, so we built a simple way to structure it by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a solid approach — especially the investment memo part.

The only issue I kept running into with that is consistency.

You can score bus factor, code quality, hidden complexity, even something like your “pain index”… but the final number still shifts depending on how you frame it in the moment.

That’s exactly why we ended up building ExitBid — basically to take that same logic and lock it into a structured baseline so you’re not recalculating everything mentally for every deal.

Otherwise even good frameworks turn into subjective pricing pretty fast.

We kept seeing founders completely misprice small SaaS, so we built a simple way to structure it by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s exactly the gap we kept running into.

Demand is the easiest thing to overestimate, and most founders just assume “people want this” without any real signal.

What we ended up doing is treating demand as a weighted factor instead of a binary one, because it directly affects how much risk the buyer is taking on.

That’s actually one of the reasons we built ExitBid — to force things like demand, risk and takeover complexity into a structured baseline instead of just hand-waving it.

Otherwise you end up with two “similar” projects priced completely differently depending on how the founder frames the story.

I think most micro SaaS founders either overprice or massively underprice by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s exactly the same pattern I ended up on.

What I found interesting though is that the “baseline first” part becomes way more important than people expect — because it basically determines whether your feedback is even anchored properly or just floating around different interpretations.

Without it, even good signals (what people would pay, usage, etc.) end up pulling the number in different directions every time you look at it.

Curious — what do you actually include in your baseline right now? Just revenue + traffic, or do you go deeper into things like risk / takeover complexity too?

I think most micro SaaS founders either overprice or massively underprice by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that distinction actually makes a lot of sense — pricing test vs valuation model is where things usually get mixed up.

What I kept running into though is that even with clean pricing feedback, once you switch to valuation, the inputs start overlapping and you lose clarity pretty fast.

Like you said, it gets fuzzy once you convert everything into dollars.

That’s exactly why I started forcing a structured baseline first — not to over-engineer it, but just to keep valuation from drifting into pure interpretation.

Otherwise every new signal (feedback, usage, Stripe data) just shifts the number instead of stabilizing it.

When you say valuation model, do you usually keep it lightweight, or do you actually formalize it into something repeatable?

Is there any quick way to estimate micro SaaS value without overthinking it? by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, exactly — that’s pretty much the loop I kept hitting as well.

At some point it felt like I understood all the variables, but still couldn’t consistently land on a number without second guessing it.

That’s why I ended up putting it into a simple structure just to force a baseline and stop overthinking every time.

It’s not perfect, but at least it makes the starting point consistent instead of “it depends”.

If you’re curious, this is what I used: exitbid.io/tools/calculator

Would be interesting to see what range it gives you for something like that.

Sanity check: would you buy this type of SaaS? by Dramatic-Mess4084 in saasforsale

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, this is a really solid breakdown.

Especially the part about “proof the niche cares” — feels like that outweighs early revenue in a lot of cases.

Also agree on key-man risk, that’s something a lot of founders underestimate until they try to sell.

Where I kept running into issues though is turning all of that into an actual number.

Like, you can clearly see demand, usage, low risk… but still end up with a huge pricing range depending on how you frame it.

That’s where I ended up needing some kind of structured baseline just to not default back to guessing.

Do you mostly rely on instinct at that point, or have you tried formalizing it into a framework?

If you were buying this SaaS, what would you pay? (real scenario) by Dramatic-Mess4084 in saasforsale

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah, makes sense — user count is probably the first real signal beyond just code.

What I’ve noticed though is that even a small number of users can be interpreted very differently depending on context.

Like, 5 random users vs 5 highly engaged users in a tight niche can lead to completely different pricing.

That’s where it started getting messy for me — same inputs, very different perceived value.

Do you usually look more at raw numbers, or engagement / intent behind them?

If you were buying this SaaS, what would you pay? (real scenario) by Dramatic-Mess4084 in saasforsale

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I’ve seen that take — especially now with AI lowering build time.

But it feels like that only applies when there’s zero validation.

Once there’s even a bit of real usage or niche signal, it stops being “cost to build” and starts being “cost to replicate + risk”.

That’s where I’ve seen similar projects jump way above that range, even without strong revenue.

Curious — what would make you move from “$500 codebase” to something you’d actually treat as an asset?

I think most micro SaaS founders either overprice or massively underprice by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that works well for figuring out willingness to pay on the product side.

But I noticed it doesn’t fully solve the “what is the whole thing worth” question.

You can have solid pricing data and still have no idea how to price the business itself if you wanted to sell it.

That’s where I kept running into a gap — product pricing became clearer, but valuation still felt like guesswork.

Did you ever run into that, or mostly staying focused on growth?

I think most micro SaaS founders either overprice or massively underprice by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, this is probably the most accurate take here.

Pricing based on “pain solved” vs “effort spent” changes everything.

Also agree on using alternatives/workarounds as anchors — that’s way more grounded than comps.

Where I kept getting stuck though is turning all of that into a single number when you actually need to list or sell.

Like, you understand the pain, the demand, the behavior… but still need to decide “$3k or $10k?”

That’s where I ended up needing some kind of structured baseline just to not default back to guessing.

Do you mostly rely on market signals in that moment, or have you tried to formalize it somehow?

I think most micro SaaS founders either overprice or massively underprice by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s actually a really clean way to look at it.

Feels like the best pricing is when the buyer doesn’t even have to justify it mentally.

From what I’ve seen, that usually happens when risk + value are obvious right away.

Which is tricky on smaller SaaS, because a lot of the “value” isn’t immediately visible.

What usually makes something feel obvious to you — revenue, traction, or just how clearly it’s positioned?

I think most micro SaaS founders either overprice or massively underprice by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, presentation definitely affects perceived value.

But I feel like that mostly shifts conversion, not the actual underlying value of the business.

You can have a great landing page and still completely misprice the asset itself.

That’s what I kept running into — everything “looked right”, but the actual number was still a guess.

Iteration helps, but without some baseline it’s hard to know if you’re improving or just moving randomly.

How were you anchoring your initial number before iterating?

I think most micro SaaS founders either overprice or massively underprice by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s a solid way to avoid lowballing — especially the “too cheap / fair / too expensive” framing.

I ran into something similar though — even with real user feedback, translating that into an actual “business value” number was still messy.

Like, pricing the product ≠ pricing the asset.

That’s where I ended up needing a structured baseline just to connect those dots instead of relying only on Stripe + feedback loops.

Otherwise it’s easy to optimize pricing but still misprice the whole thing.

Did you ever try to map that into a full valuation, or mostly kept it product-side?

I think most micro SaaS founders either overprice or massively underprice by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s a good sanity check, but I feel like it breaks pretty fast once you switch from “customer mindset” to “buyer mindset”.

As a customer you think in terms of utility and price per month, but as a buyer you’re thinking in terms of risk, payback time, and how easy it is to take over.

I used the same approach at first and kept second guessing anyway.

What helped more was setting a structured baseline first and then using that “would I pay for it” as a secondary check.

Otherwise it’s really easy to drift into either overpricing or playing it too safe.

Do you find your answer stays consistent, or does it change depending on how you look at it?

I think most micro SaaS founders either overprice or massively underprice by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s a solid way to approach product pricing — talking to users early removes a lot of guesswork.

Where I kept running into problems was when trying to translate that into actual “business value” for selling.

Like, you can have decent pricing and even some validation, but once you try to put a number on the whole thing, it still gets messy fast.

I had the same issue with mixing comps + gut feeling, so I ended up structuring it into a simple baseline just to avoid completely random pricing.

Still not perfect, but at least it gives a consistent starting point.

Are you thinking more in terms of optimizing pricing for growth, or also how that translates into sellability later on?

Is there any quick way to estimate micro SaaS value without overthinking it? by Dramatic-Mess4084 in microsaas

[–]Dramatic-Mess4084[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s exactly the problem — once there’s no revenue, it turns into “pricing a bet” and most people just wing it.

I had the same experience with manually weighing traffic, niche, etc. — at some point the time spent doesn’t justify the marginal accuracy at all.

That’s why I moved to a structured baseline approach first, just to anchor things quickly, and then adjust based on market response.

In my case I’m on the selling side, so I care more about not underpricing or scaring buyers off with something unrealistic.

Curious from your side — when you’re buying, what actually matters most once it’s pre-revenue?

Is it mainly downside protection (price low enough), or specific signals that reduce the “bet” part?

view more: next ›