Ask HN: Acquihire early stage bootstrapped SaaS advice

This is super true and super scary. I've been involved on both sides of this a few times, and you wind up spending so much time, energy, and emotion on the possible big deal you stall out hard - and when you compare incentives between the acquirer and the acquiree, it's in their best interests to string you along to devalue, but it's in your best interests to keep doing what's made you valuable in the first place.

Treat it similar to a big enterprise sale with a ton of stakeholders - establish a hard timeline with specific deadlines and penalties for missed stuff. Get it on paper, get your due diligence deliverables planned alongside regular work, and move your focus on until it's needed again.

I'd strongly strongy advise anyone in this situation to heed the OPs advice. I have been there, made this mistake, and it is BRUTAL - if you have traction, run at your traction, unless you're at risk of not being able to continue: do not get distracted.

Someone like Justin Kan could help you with this process. Look into his startup Atrium - but looks like you already have an experienced lawyer, so it might not be as useful.

I'm also going through this process right now, and it's a lot more work than I've envisioned. Others have said this, but make sure not to burn out - I'm trying to best.

I've been through this process. Everything came out alright, but had some bruises.

It's easy for the acquirer to take their sweet time. Some here suggest ignoring them completely. I think it's fine to go down this road if it's what you want and you like them well enough, but, first, understand that they want you and your team, so you should treat your interactions like a normal two-way job interview. Do you like and respect the company? Do you like and respect the people? Could you work there for five years?

A competitive situation is for the best--that encourages the acquirers to move swiftly and to ignore immaterial imperfections. If you can't create a competitive situation, then be sure to do the following: 1) reserve enough time and/or sandbox the rest of the team so that the business continues to advance during discussions; 2) if you sign a no-shop provision (it'll be hard not to), make sure it expires in 30-45 days; 3) do not extend the no-shop provision. If they can't close in the initial timeframe, it's fine to let them keep going so long as you still like them, but be very firm about not extending the no-shop.

Be sure to be professional and courteous throughout, even if things don't go through. It's good practice and you'll want a good reputation. Always remember your BATNA.

Is this a common practice?