My $6M SaaS Exit Playbook: What I'd Do Differently Today

The Day Everything Changed

It was 2:47 PM on a Tuesday when the email came through.

"We'd like to make an offer to acquire your company."

My hands were literally shaking as I read it three times. After 4 years of 70-hour weeks, countless rejections, and more pivots than I can count, someone wanted to buy our mass texting SaaS for multiple seven figures.

But here's what nobody tells you about exits: the real value isn't in the check you cash. It's in the lessons you paid for with blood, sweat, and about a thousand sleepless nights.

Today, I'm sharing everything—the good, the bad, and the stuff I wish someone had told me when I was starting out.

The Beginning: A Problem Worth Solving

How We Found Product-Market Fit

In 2018, I was consulting for local businesses and noticed a pattern: they all struggled with customer communication. Email open rates were tanking. Social media organic reach was dead. But text messages? 98% open rate.

The problem: existing SMS platforms were either:

• Enterprise-focused (starting at $5000/month)
• Sketchy and unreliable
• Way too complicated for small businesses

We saw the gap and jumped.

The MVP That Almost Wasn't

Our first version was embarrassingly simple:

• Upload a CSV of phone numbers
• Type a message
• Click send
• That's it

No automation. No integrations. No fancy analytics.

We built it in 6 weeks using:

• Ruby on Rails (backend)
• Basic Bootstrap (frontend)
• Twilio API (SMS delivery)
• Stripe (payments)

Total cost to launch: $3,000

First month revenue: $127

Not exactly a rocket ship start.

Year 1: The Grind Nobody Sees

Customer Discovery That Actually Worked

We spent the first 6 months talking to EVERY single customer. Not surveys. Not email. Actual phone calls.

What we learned changed everything:

• They didn't want more features
• They wanted it to "just work"
• They cared more about delivery rates than fancy dashboards
• Price sensitivity was lower than we thought

The Pivot That 3x'd Our Growth

Month 7, we made a crucial decision: focus exclusively on service businesses (salons, dentists, auto shops).

Why? They had:

• High customer lifetime value
• Repeat purchase behavior
• Phone numbers for every customer
• Actual budgets for marketing

Revenue jumped from $2K/month to $6K/month in 90 days.

Pricing Lessons (Learned the Hard Way)

Our pricing evolution:

1. Version 1: Pay per text ($0.05 each) - Nobody bought
2. Version 2: $49/month unlimited - Lost money on every customer
3. Version 3: Tiered plans ($99/$299/$599) - Sweet spot found

Key insight: Businesses budget monthly, not per-unit. Price accordingly.

Year 2: Scaling Without Burning Out

The Hire That Changed Everything

Month 14, we hired our first developer. Not a rockstar. Not a 10x engineer. Just someone who could handle customer support tickets while coding.

This freed me up to focus on:

• Sales (closed $50K in new MRR that quarter)
• Partnerships (landed 3 white-label deals)
• Product strategy (finally had time to think long-term)

Cost: $65K/year Value created: $400K in new revenue

Best ROI ever.

Building Systems That Scale

We documented EVERYTHING:

• Customer onboarding (12-step checklist)
• Bug triage process (saved 10 hours/week)
• Sales scripts (close rate went from 15% to 35%)
• Content calendar (blog traffic 10x'd in 6 months)

Tools we couldn't live without:

• Notion - Documentation and wiki
• Intercom - Customer support
• Mixpanel - Product analytics
• Ahrefs - SEO and content
• Close.io - Sales CRM

The $100K Mistake

We tried to build an AI chatbot feature because it was "trendy."

6 months and $100K later:

• Customers didn't want it
• It complicated our simple value prop
• Support tickets tripled
• We killed it

Lesson: Just because you CAN build something doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Year 3: The Hockey Stick

What Actually Moved the Needle

Three things created our hockey stick growth:

1. SEO Content Marketing

   • Published 150 blog posts
   • Ranked #1 for "mass texting for [industry]"
   • Organic traffic = 60% of new signups

2. Partner Channel

   • White-labeled for 5 marketing agencies
   • Revenue share deals with POS systems
   • 40% of new MRR from partners

3. Annual Plans

   • Offered 2 months free for annual payment
   • Improved cash flow by $300K
   • Reduced churn by 30%

The Metrics That Mattered

By end of Year 3:

• MRR: $147,000
• Customers: 1,850
• Team size: 7
• Churn: 5.2% monthly
• CAC: $385
• LTV: $2,100
• Burn: $0 (profitable!)

The Competition Heats Up

Three VC-funded competitors entered our space. They had:

• $20M+ in funding each
• 50+ employees
• Fancier features
• Lower prices (losing money on each customer)

We survived by:

• Focusing on profitability over growth
• Doubling down on customer service
• Staying in our lane (service businesses only)
• Not trying to match every feature

Year 4: The Exit

Why We Decided to Sell

Truth? I was exhausted.

But also:

• Market was consolidating
• Bigger players entering
• Team was burning out
• Had a new baby (priorities shifted)

We hired an M&A advisor (cost: 8% of sale price, worth every penny).

The Acquisition Process

Month 1-2: Prepared the "book"

• 3-year financials
• Customer analysis
• Tech documentation
• Growth projections

Month 3-4: Talked to buyers

• 12 initial conversations
• 5 LOIs (Letters of Intent)
• 3 serious offers

Month 5-6: Due diligence hell

• 400+ questions answered
• Every contract reviewed
• Code audit completed
• Customer calls conducted

Month 7: Closed the deal

The Numbers (What You Really Want to Know)

• Sale price: $6.2M
• Structure: 70% cash at close, 30% earnout over 2 years
• Multiple: 3.5x ARR
• My take home (after taxes, fees, paying out investors): ~$2.8M

Not "retire to a beach" money, but definitely "take a breath and figure out what's next" money.

What I'd Do Differently in 2025

The AI Advantage I Wish I Had

If starting today, I'd use AI to:

1. Product Development

   • Claude/Cursor for 10x faster coding
   • GitHub Copilot for bug fixes
   • AI for documentation

2. Marketing

   • Generate 100 SEO articles in first month
   • A/B test 1000 ad variations
   • Personalized email sequences at scale

3. Customer Support

   • AI chatbot for 80% of tickets
   • Automated FAQ generation
   • Sentiment analysis for churn prediction

4. Sales

   • Lead scoring with AI
   • Automated follow-ups
   • Proposal generation

This would let a team of 2 do what took us 7 people.

The Exact Playbook for 2025

If I was starting from zero today:

Month 1: Validation

• Build a landing page with Framer (1 day)
• Run $500 in Facebook ads to test demand
• Get 20 customer interviews scheduled
• Pre-sell 10 customers at 50% off

Month 2: MVP

• Use Cursor + Claude to build core features
• Integrate Stripe for payments
• Launch with 5 beta customers
• Iterate based on daily feedback

Month 3-6: Find Product-Market Fit

• Talk to customers every single day
• Ship updates twice per week
• Focus on one use case until it's perfect
• Ignore everything else

Month 7-12: Scale

• Hire 1 person (customer success + operations)
• Launch content marketing (100 articles)
• Build 3 key partnerships
• Optimize pricing based on data

Year 2: Growth

• Raise small round if needed ($500K max)
• Build the team (5 people total)
• Expand to adjacent markets
• Consider acquisition offers

The Tech Stack I'd Use

• Frontend: Next.js + Tailwind
• Backend: Supabase or Firebase
• Payments: Stripe
• Analytics: PostHog
• Support: Crisp or Intercom
• Email: Resend
• AI: OpenAI API + Claude API
• Hosting: Vercel

Total cost: <$200/month to start

The Mistakes I'd Avoid

1. Don't build features customers aren't begging for
2. Don't hire too early (wait until you're in pain)
3. Don't raise money unless you absolutely need to
4. Don't compete on price (compete on value)
5. Don't ignore mental health (burnout is real)

The Non-Obvious Lessons

On Building a Team

The best employees aren't the smartest ones. They're the ones who:

• Care about customers
• Can figure things out independently
• Actually want to be there
• Share your values

Pay them well. Give them ownership. Trust them.

On Competition

Your competition isn't who you think:

• It's not other startups
• It's not big companies
• It's the status quo
• It's "doing nothing"

Make switching to your product a no-brainer.

On Pricing

Double your prices. Seriously.

We 3x'd our prices in Year 2:

• Lost 20% of customers
• Increased revenue by 40%
• Support tickets dropped 50%
• Team was happier

Higher prices = better customers.

On Work-Life Balance

The "hustle 24/7" culture is BS.

My best decisions came after:

• 8 hours of sleep
• Time with family
• Regular exercise
• Actual vacations

You can't sprint for 4 years. Pace yourself.

The Faith Component

As a Christian entrepreneur, I struggled with the tension between ambition and contentment.

What helped:

• Tithing from day one (even when losing money)
• Sabbath rest (no work on Sundays, period)
• Serving others (success is measured in value created, not money made)
• Stewardship mindset (it's all God's anyway)

The business was never about getting rich. It was about using gifts to serve others and provide for my family.

What's Next?

Post-exit, I took 6 months off. Needed it.

Now I'm building again, but differently:

• Smaller team (max 3 people)
• Profitable from day one
• Using AI for everything
• Teaching others along the way

The goal isn't another exit. It's building something sustainable that serves people well.

Your Action Plan

If you're thinking about building a SaaS:

Week 1: Validate

• Pick a specific problem you've personally experienced
• Find 10 people with the same problem
• Get them to pay you before you build anything

Month 1: Build

• Use AI tools to build an MVP
• Launch with less features than you think
• Charge more than feels comfortable

Year 1: Focus

• Say no to 99% of feature requests
• Talk to customers more than you code
• Document everything as you go

Always: Remember Why

• You're solving real problems for real people
• Revenue is a lagging indicator of value created
• The journey is more valuable than the exit

Resources and Tools

Books That Changed My Thinking

• "The Mom Test" - How to talk to customers
• "Traction" - 19 channels for growth
• "The Lean Startup" - Build-measure-learn
• "Profit First" - Financial management

Communities Worth Joining

• Indie Hackers - Solo founders
• MicroConf - Bootstrapped SaaS
• r/SaaS - Reddit community
• Our Skool Community - Faith-based entrepreneurs

Tools for Starting Today

• Cursor + Claude - Build your MVP
• Stripe Atlas - Incorporate and setup
• Notion - Documentation
• Canva - Marketing materials
• Ahrefs - SEO research

The Bottom Line

Building and selling a SaaS changed my life. Not just financially, but in terms of confidence, skills, and relationships.

The check was nice. But the real value was:

• Learning how to solve problems at scale
• Building something from nothing
• Leading a team through challenges
• Knowing I can do it again

You don't need:

• A technical co-founder
• VC funding
• A revolutionary idea
• Permission from anyone

You just need:

• A problem worth solving
• Willingness to start messy
• Persistence when it gets hard
• Faith that serving others creates value

Your Turn

I shared my playbook. Now it's your turn to execute.

The difference between successful founders and everyone else?

We started before we were ready.

Download the AI App Starter Kit below. Join our community. Start building.

Six months from now, you could be writing your own story.

The question is: Will you?

P.S. - If you're serious about building a SaaS, email me at james@jamespelton.me. I read every email and try to respond to as many as possible. Include "SaaS Playbook" in the subject line.