Is your SaaS actually protected from AI disruption, or are acquirers walking away without even looking?

In this episode, Rob Walling talks with Einar Vollset of Discretion Capital for a front-lines SaaS M&A market report, covering how the acquisition climate has shifted since 2021, why some PE firms now require at least one AI moat before they'll even look at a deal, and a breakdown of all five moats: hardware-software coupling, two-sided network effects, communication graph embeds, proprietary data with closed feedback loops, and operational switching costs.

• (2:05) – State of SaaS M&A from 2020 to today
• (5:49) – Why 2021 was the best time to sell
• (7:38) – How the 2022 downturn raised the acquisition bar
• (8:59) – The SaaS apocalypse narrative and AI FUD
• (12:26) – Why bootstrappers should care about exit markets
• (15:52) – AI moat #1: Hardware-software coupling
• (17:38) – AI moat #2: Marketplace scale and two-sided network effects
• (20:05) – AI moat #3: Communication graph and relationship embed
• (21:27) – AI moat #4: Proprietary data with closed feedback loops
• (23:20) – AI moat #5: Operational embed and switching costs
• (27:28) – Some PE firms now require at least one moat
• (29:23) – AI-native SaaS faces even higher hurdles

• MicroConf Connect Next Live Session: Jim Zarkadas on User-Friendly Onboarding (June 17)
• TinySeed
• MicroConf YouTube
• The SaaS Playbook
• Discretion Capital M&A Guide
• Fiscal.ai
• DealForma
• BuiltWith
• ZyraTalk
• EverCommerce
• Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!

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