How we source, verify, and maintain the FounderSold exit database. Transparency in data sourcing is foundational — every data point has a trail.
Exit data enters FounderSold through three channels:
Completed listings on acquisition platforms — Acquire.com, Flippa, Empire Flippers, MicroAcquire, and similar — where the sale price and basic metrics were publicly disclosed at listing or upon completion.
Tweets, blog posts, newsletter issues, podcast appearances, and Indie Hackers posts where founders shared the details of their exit voluntarily. We link to the primary source whenever available.
Direct submissions from founders through our Submit form. Submitted data goes through manual review before publication. Founders can choose how much detail to make public.
The Verified badge indicates that key financial metrics (sale price and/or MRR) have been cross-referenced against at least one independent source, or that the founder confirmed the data directly.
Unverified exits still appear in the database — they're labeled clearly. Partial data is always preferred to no data: an exit with only the category and approximate sale price range helps founders calibrate expectations even without the full breakdown.
An exit qualifies for FounderSold if it meets all of the following:
We do not include funded startups, businesses sold for over $1M, or exits where the acquirer price was primarily for the team (acquihires without disclosed project value).
We use Profit Multiple as the primary valuation metric, consistent with standard practice in the indie acquisition market:
"Monthly profit" refers to Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) — revenue minus operating costs, before owner salary add-backs. This is the standard the major acquisition platforms use.
We also track Revenue Multiple (Sale Price ÷ ARR) where data is available, though this is a secondary metric for the sub-$1M market where many businesses are non-recurring or mixed.
When MRR or monthly profit are estimated (e.g. derived from ARR), the exit is labeled accordingly. Estimated figures are never presented as verified. See our glossary for full definitions of each metric.
The database is updated continuously as new exits are documented. Existing entries are corrected when more accurate information becomes available (e.g., a founder clarifies the actual sale price after a public estimate was recorded).
If you spot an error or have additional context for an exit in the database, use the contact link on any exit detail page or reach us at the email in our footer.
No database of this kind is complete. Known limitations:
Despite these gaps, the data is directionally accurate and sufficient for market-rate benchmarking. This is not financial advice — treat all data as reference points, not prescriptions.