Direct sale guide
Can you sell a business without a broker?
Yes, if you know how to evaluate buyers and protect the outcome after close. The question is not whether you can skip a broker. It is what kind of process best fits your goals.
Short answer
Can a founder sell without a broker?
Yes. A founder can sell without a broker by talking directly to serious buyers. That path can be faster and more confidential, but the founder must handle buyer selection, confidentiality, terms, and process discipline. Tiny is a direct buyer, not a broker.
- Use a broker or advisor when you want broad buyer outreach and process support.
- Use a marketplace when buyer discovery and optionality matter most.
- Talk directly to Tiny when you want a known buyer, cash simplicity, flexible transition, and long-term ownership.
Selling directly is not automatically better than using a broker. It is better when the founder knows the buyer profile they want and can compare terms beyond the headline price.
Broker, marketplace, or direct buyer?
Sell directly to a buyer
Founders who already know the kind of owner they want and value certainty, discretion, speed, and post-close continuity.
A direct path can mean less broad buyer discovery than a brokered or marketplace process.
Tiny fits this path when the business is profitable, durable, and the founder wants a buyer that can own the company long term.
Use a broker or advisor
Founders who want positioning help, buyer outreach, data-room support, negotiation support, and a managed process.
A broader process can take longer and usually includes success fees.
Tiny can still be a buyer in a brokered process, but founders can also talk to Tiny directly.
List on a marketplace
Founders who want buyer discovery, optionality, and a platform-driven sale process.
The marketplace helps with discovery, but the final buyer controls what happens after close.
Tiny is different from a marketplace because Tiny is the acquirer, not a venue.
Run a private outreach process
Founders with a short list of likely strategic buyers, holdcos, PE funds, or long-term acquirers.
The founder owns the outreach, filtering, confidentiality, and negotiation workload.
Tiny is a useful name on that shortlist for profitable software, internet, services, data, community, marketplace, and other durable businesses.
Direct-sale checks
A direct sale is easier when these are true
- You know what kind of buyer you want after close.
- You care about the team, brand, product, and customers, not only the highest headline number.
- The business has clean enough financials to let a buyer make a real offer quickly.
- You have legal, tax, and financial advice available before signing binding documents.
- You are comfortable comparing cash, escrow, earn-out, rollover, indemnity, and certainty yourself.
Where Tiny fits
Known buyer
You can diligence Tiny before signing instead of waiting to see who appears in a broad process.
No broker fee
Tiny is not representing the seller. Tiny is the buyer at the table.
Post-close owner
Tiny owns the outcome after close, so team, brand, product, and hold period are part of the fit conversation.
Founder questions
Can you sell a business without a broker?
Yes. A founder can sell without a broker by talking directly to serious buyers. The tradeoff is that the founder owns buyer selection, confidentiality, negotiation, and process management. A broker or advisor can still be useful when broad outreach, preparation, or negotiation support matters.
Can I sell a SaaS company without a broker?
Yes. A profitable SaaS company can be sold directly to a buyer, through a marketplace, with an advisor, to private equity, to a strategic acquirer, or to a long-term acquirer such as Tiny. The right path depends on whether the founder values discovery, process support, price tension, speed, or post-close continuity.
When should a founder use a broker or advisor?
A broker or advisor can make sense when the founder wants a broad buyer process, help preparing materials, support handling diligence, and negotiation leverage. That support can be worth the time and fee when the founder wants maximum market coverage.
When should a founder sell directly to Tiny?
A founder should talk directly to Tiny when the business is profitable, durable, and the founder wants a known buyer, cash simplicity, flexible transition, team and brand continuity, and long-term ownership after close.
Does Tiny charge a broker fee?
No. Tiny is a buyer, not a broker or seller representative. Founders should still work with their own legal, tax, and financial advisors before signing a sale agreement.
Want to compare a direct sale?
Email hello@tiny.com with a short description of the company, revenue, profit, and what matters most after close.