About They Got Acquired
Here's our story, and how we help founders looking to sell.
Our Mission
Silicon Valley tells us success means selling for hundreds of millions of dollars, a result of fast growth at all costs and raising venture capital.
But for many entrepreneurs, there’s a more likely and more appealing option: a smaller yet life-changing exit, accomplished through thoughtful, sustainable growth, while retaining ownership through bootstrapping or minimum funding.
We celebrate entrepreneurs who find success on this alternative path, and support founders looking to join them.
Join our newsletter:
How We Help Founders Sell Their Business
We support owners looking to sell in two ways:
1 – By matching you to M&A advisors or brokers you can trust.
We’ll introduce you to professionals who have experience selling your type and size of business, and who come recommended by other founders who’ve sold.
2 – Helping you increase the value of your business ahead of a sale.
We do this through:
- Stories of founders who’ve sold and how they did it (via our free newsletter)
- Reports that aggregate data on sales and buyers (see all of our free reports)
- A course that reviews the basics of what to expect when you sell (see the course)
- And coming soon, IRL events that connect founders who are building with a sale in mind
Our Story
Meet our founder, Lexi Grant. She sold two media companies over the span of six years, and both times craved more support — but didn’t know where to find it.
Most of the acquisition stories she saw featured companies that sold for hundreds of millions of dollars, and the only support professionals she could find were big bankers.
So after her second sale in 2021, she set out to build what was missing.
They Got Acquired is a media company offering resources and advice for M&A, with a focus on “smaller” deals: companies selling for 6, 7, or low-8 figures.
The truth is, there’s a whole world of founders who’ve gone through this kind of acquisition who are willing to help others. And plenty of advisors and brokers and lawyers and exit-readiness planners who can help. You just have to know how to find them.
Lexi gives back to this community by offering free advice calls with founders looking to sell in the next year.
This podcast episode shares more of her story:
Meet Our People
Our Team
Accuracy Matters
Our Approach
Our approach to storytelling and data-collection stems from our founder’s background in journalism and experience growing content companies. We value accuracy and lean on experts for information.
For some deals, details are private and confidential, and we might not have every data point. Yet we’ve found that through a combination of original reporting — going directly to the source, typically the founder — and thoughtful aggregation of information across the web, we can paint a picture of the company and the deal that’s insightful.
When we combine all of these stories, we form a whole we believe is worth pursuing: a new narrative around acquisitions of online businesses. That’s where the magic happens.
While we cover any deals that meet our criteria (primarily online, sold between $100K-$50M), we go out of our way to share stories that aren’t highlighted elsewhere, founders who have deviated from the Silicon Valley narrative. That includes women-led and bootstrapped businesses, and companies that have taken the “calm” approach to building. Here’s more on our approach to reporting.
In the News
Press Coverage
A Spotlight on Tech’s Invisible Start-ups
The New York Times
March 1, 2022
How to sell a business for under $1M
Meridian
July 2022
