Resources

Field notes from the marketplace. How buyers think, why founders quit, and what makes a deal close.

A practical guide for marketers, operators, and designers who want to buy a half built SaaS without hiring an engineering team upfront.

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How to add a paywall to an acquired free SaaS without losing your audience

You bought a free side project with 800 users. Here are the four monetization patterns I have watched buyers use, what to charge, and the communication script that keeps people on the boat.

AI built vs human built code: does the buyer actually care?

A nuanced take on the vibe coded debate. What buyers should actually ask about acquired SaaS code, and why the IDE the founder used matters less than you think.

AI wrappers vs real products, and how to spot a SaaS worth acquiring

A buyer's guide to telling apart commodity GPT wrappers from defensible AI products. The acid test, the red flags, and what each is actually worth.

A buyer's guide to browser extension acquisitions

Browser extensions are a different beast from SaaS. Here is what I look for when evaluating a Chrome Web Store acquisition or a half-built Firefox add-on.

Buying an AI SaaS in 2026, what's actually worth your money

AI fatigue is real and most listings are GPT wrappers with no moat. Here is how I separate signal from noise when looking at an AI SaaS for sale on Failedups.

The cofounder breakup playbook for early stage projects

A practical guide to ending a cofounder partnership without ending the project. Signs, conversations, legal mechanics, and the emotional reality.

Compensation when you join a half-built project as employee number two

What to ask for in salary, equity, and everything else when you are the first hire on a Failedups acquisition or a barely-funded indie startup. Written for the person joining, not the founder.

10 due diligence questions to ask before buying a side project

A side project due diligence checklist you can paste straight into the inquiry message. What to ask, why it matters, and what a bad answer sounds like.