How to Sell a SaaS When Growth Has Stopped and the Cap Table Is Broken | Michał Suski, Surfer SEO

The co-founder of Surfer SEO just gave his first public interview about the company's acquisition.

Surfer SEO grew from a side project in 2017 into one of the world's best-known SEO and content optimization software companies, reaching $13M ARR, 12,000 paying customers, and 150,000 active users — all while staying fully bootstrapped.

But by the time Surfer SEO was acquired by Positive Group in 2025, the company had spent nearly two years at zero growth, was carrying debt from a co-founder buyout, and was operating in one of the most competitive SaaS markets in recent history.

In this episode, Michał Suski breaks down exactly what happened behind the scenes of the Surfer SEO acquisition:

🟣 Why Surfer SEO decided to sell
🟣 How a co-founder split changed the company's future
🟣 What it takes to prepare a SaaS company for acquisition
🟣 The challenges of selling a business in a down market
🟣 Why the acquisition process took almost two years
🟣 How SaaS valuation multiples changed after 2021
🟣 What founders should do today if they plan to exit in the next 2–3 years
🟣 The biggest mistakes bootstrapped founders make before a sale

Michał also shares rare insights into running a profitable bootstrapped SaaS company, navigating AI disruption, surviving a red-ocean market, and building long-term enterprise value.

Chapters
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:07 First Public Interview About the Acquisition, Surfer Numbers: ARR
00:01:24 Surfer SEO's Numbers: ARR, Customers & Team Size
00:04:24 The Real Reason the Founders Decided to Sell
00:06:16 AI, Competition & the SaaS Down Market
00:09:31 How a Multi-Founder Team Agrees on an Exit
00:10:59 Preparing a SaaS Company for Acquisition
00:16:13 What Determines SaaS Valuation Multiples?
00:17:13 Why Selling in 2021 Would Have Been Worth Much More
00:19:29 Finding the Right Acquirer: Positive Group
00:21:23 The 2-Year Acquisition Process Explained
00:22:32 Telling the Team & Managing the Transition
00:26:06 The Biggest Mistake Founders Make
00:29:54 How to Prepare a Bootstrapped SaaS for Sale
00:33:41 AI, In-House Tools & the Future of SEO Software
00:38:25 Final Advice for SaaS Founders

🟣 The Guest
Michał Suski is the co-founder and CPO of Surfer SEO (now Positive Surfer), one of the leading SEO content optimization platforms. Built without VC funding, Surfer grew from a small team in south-eastern Poland into a global SaaS company used by marketers worldwide.
This is the first time Michał has publicly discussed the acquisition in detail.

🎙 Odys Podcast: The High Stakes Growth Show
We host conversations with the founders, operators, and investors building, buying, and scaling digital businesses across competitive industries — from SEO and affiliate ecosystems to iGaming, crypto, and emerging markets.
Expect real playbooks, candid insights, and lessons from people operating where the stakes are high.

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on:
• scaling digital businesses
• SEO and growth strategies
• acquisitions and exits
• investing in digital assets
• high-competition industries
• blue ocean strategies

🟣 Odys Global is your most reliable blue-ocean growth partner, empowering entrepreneurs and brands to scale faster and build profit-driven online businesses. By connecting a global community of like-minded experts and decision-makers, Odys Global creates unrefusable partnership opportunities that drive long-term, mutual success.

#saas #acquisition #startupexit #founder #exitstrategy #saasfounders #bootstrapped #sellingbusiness #businesspodcast #businessstrategy #surferseo #odyspodcast

Видео How to Sell a SaaS When Growth Has Stopped and the Cap Table Is Broken | Michał Suski, Surfer SEO канала Odys Podcast: The High Stakes Growth Show