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Handing over the reins to her bootstrapped business gave this founder freedom to start a new chapter, while her company got a stronger future.

Artificial intelligence is all the rage now, but founders like FriendlyData’s Michael Rumiantsau have been quietly building and scaling AI-driven companies for years.

Peter Valley started reselling books for profit after a failed dumpster dive. Years later, he turned the gig into Zen Arbitrage, a software for book resellers that he later sold.

Air HR co-founder Nick Holzherr had long used Upwork to build teams. So when it was time to sell his business, he hired on the freelance platform for M&A support, too.

The solo founder of real estate startup Home Sale Assured was able to sell his business within a year thanks to deep industry experience and a focus on efficiency.

This family-run software company was approached by several potential buyers, but held out for one they felt they could trust.

Software company WaudWare launched in 1989. When two interested buyers approached 30+ years later, the founder brokered a deal — without prior experience or an advisor.

Augmented Pixels disrupted the outdated mapping industry. Its founder, who wasn’t in the market to sell, was wooed by client Qualcomm due to “good timing and terms.”

A husband-and-wife team grew this marketing agency to 40 employees. Their superpower was staying ahead of social media trends, and figuring out how to get clients on long-term retainers.