Startup Acquisition Stories with Kjael Skaalerud, President of Skaling Ventures

Watch the interview

Kjael Skaalerud is the Founder and President of Skaling Ventures, a Private Equity firm acquiring and operating micro-SaaS businesses. Kjael recently made their first acquisition via Acquire.com and is taking a very cool #buildinpublic approach by sharing in-depth details around building their portfolio starting with this first one.

Kjael jumped on the podcast with Andrew and drops a ton of knowledge around:

  • how their venture utilizes a punitive scorecard system to evaluate certain aspects of the acquisition target – ideal valuation multiples, retention rates, growth rates, ideal technical debt range, etc.
  • the three pillars of SaaS data sitting in system of records that matter the most – “books, customers, employees”.
  • what a top-notch seller looks like from how they talk about the business to how clean they’ve kept their data.

This episode is worth a watch for any buyer looking to acquire their first business and a seller who wants to put their best foot forward against buyers who know what they’re doing.


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