They Got Acquired - An 8-figure edtech sale

June 4, 2024
​Read on web​

Vlada Lotkina and Jason Olim faced multiple funding rejections, a global pandemic and war that displaced their Ukrainian team.

Still, they managed to build ClassTag, their educator-to-family communication platform, into a profitable business earning 7 figures annually.

And they did it by monetizing with brand partnerships, bucking the edtech trend.

Then, facing changing marketing conditions in education, they pursued a sale to join with a more established edtech player.

They landed with SchoolStatus, a Mississippi-based edtech company, with an 8-figure deal.

A few of their stats when they sold:

• 5 million users
• $12 million in VC funding
• 20 employees and contractors
• Profitable, with 7 figures in revenue

More details on how they did it in our story:

​These edtech founders overcame VC challenges, a war and a pandemic before selling​

Want a sounding board ahead of selling your business? 🙌

Did you know I offer free calls for founders who'd like to sell their business?

I've done 100s of these calls since launching this business two-and-a-half years ago. It's one of my favorite parts of this job. I get to meet members of this community, learn about what you're building, and help you figure out the best steps toward a sale.

I took a break from founder calls earlier this year to focus on other priorities. And I probably won't do calls in July or August because working time is so limited with the kids out of school.

So I'm opening a bunch of slots for June. Grab it while you can!

The best fit for these conversations — the founders I can help the most —are those who:

• Want to sell in the next year
• Are bringing in at least $250,000 in revenue
• Have not yet listed the business for sale with a broker or marketplace

Look forward to meeting you!

Behind the business (of TGA)

We're not launching our M&A data platform.

Here's what we're doing instead...

For months now we've been building an M&A intelligence platform focused on online businesses that have sold for 6, 7 and 8 figures. The goal is to help founders, buyers and brokers pull insights on potential buyers and comps for relevant deals.

We've already had some early successes! Including a founder who used the platform to identify good-fit buyers, find their contact info and book calls. She just sold her business 🎉

Now, we're at a big milestone: we're adding early users to the platform.

But you won't see a big, splash launch from us, at least not yet.

Here are 3 approaches we're taking to adding early users that go against conventional wisdom:

👉 1. We're skipping the initial loud launch.

Instead, we're slowly adding users one-by-one, ensuring the platform delivers value, and collecting feedback and testimonials.

Splashy launches create unrealistic expectations. They suggest the flood gates will open, which rarely happens. Even if you've built an audience ahead of time, a consistent trickle of sales is more likely.

And in our case, we'd prefer the constant trickle. We want to see how customers use our product and learn how to support them before adding hundreds of users.

This was inspired in part by eWebinar founder Melissa Kwan, who took this approach and shared how it went in her ProfitLed podcast.

👉 2. We're not launching an MVP.

MVPs aren't good enough anymore. Instead, we're releasing a product our customers will get huge value from on day one.

I like how WP Engine founder Jason Cohen reframes this; he says you should release an SLC instead. That stands for Simple, Loveable and Complete.

​His post on this topic shaped how I thought about making our product ready for users.

👉 3. We're not adding early users for free.

Many founders offer free accounts for their first users so they can get feedback.

But the biggest thing we're testing right now is whether founders and deal-makers will pay for access to insights that will help them grow their buyer pool, negotiate smarter, lean on reliable comps, and ultimately sell for more.

Players in the VC world have access to tons of tools like this. How badly does the lower-to-middle market M&A community want insight on private transactions and bootstrapped company sales?

Giving the platform away won't help us answer that question.

💸 So instead of freebies, we're offering discounts for our first users.

Not to convince users to join They Got Acquired Data, but as a way of saying THANK YOU — for trusting us enough to use our product first.

Thank you for betting on us, and for believing that we can provide insights that will give you an edge.

And thank you for being open and honest about what you need, so we can learn how to serve you better.

👀 If you've read this far...

And you're looking for ways to identify potential buyers, see how other companies like yours have sold, or pull relevant comps, reply to this email. I'm curious about your goals — and how our platform might help.

See you next time,

Lexi Grant
Founder & CEO
​They Got Acquired​
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