How to Sell Your AI SaaS
The exit playbook for indie AI founders — prep, listing, buyer vetting, LOI, diligence and close. Written for solo devs, not investment bankers.
Selling a $10k–$80k MRR AI SaaS in 2026 takes 45–90 days on a live terminal. Prep matters more than price: clean Stripe, 12-month P&L, model-cost breakdown and a one-page thesis get you 3–5 LOIs instead of one lowball.
Prep: what to fix before you list
Consolidate revenue into one Stripe account. Kill the free tier for 30 days before listing to establish a clean paid conversion. Break out model API costs from infra so gross margin is unambiguous.
- 12-month Stripe export (MRR, churn, refunds)
- Model cost per active user
- Traffic sources with UTMs
- Retention cohort chart
- Post-close transition doc
Listing: title, thesis, ask
The listing title is your headline — lead with the wedge, not the tech ("Support automation for Shopify stores" beats "GPT-4 based helpdesk"). Set the ask 10–15% above your walk-away number.
Vetting buyers before diligence
Ask every buyer three questions: what's your buy-box, where does capital come from, how many deals have you closed. Anyone who dodges is a tire-kicker.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use a broker?
For sub-$500k deals, no. Brokers cost 10–15% and add 2–3 months. Live terminals reach the same buyer pool directly.
How do I handle the OpenAI API key transfer?
New buyer creates a fresh key, you rotate on close day, they cover overage for the transition week. Document this in the APA.