Acquire.com vs Acquisition.com

They are different companies

Acquire.com is a marketplace where startups are listed for sale; Acquisition.com is not that marketplace.

The names sit one letter apart, and people type the wrong one. Acquire.com, at acquire.com, is where you list a startup so buyers can ask for access. Acquisition.com, at acquisition.com, is the company Alex and Leila Hormozi describe as theirs. Alex and Leila Hormozi are co-founders and managing partners of Acquisition.com. In four years, the portfolio grew to over $250 million in annual revenue. The homepage also describes a two-day scaling workshop at their office.

Nothing on either homepage says the two sites are the same company, a parent and a subsidiary, or a rebrand of each other. Treat them as separate until a document you sign says otherwise. If a message, an invoice, or a login page uses one name and the other site's address, stop and check the domain before you pay or upload anything.

Acquire.com was previously called MicroAcquire. Read what happened to MicroAcquire for that rename. The rename does not make Acquire.com into Acquisition.com.

The practical test is the job. If you want buyers to see a startup that is for sale, you are looking for the marketplace. If you want a firm that invests in businesses, or a workshop about scaling, you are looking at Acquisition.com. Opening the wrong account wastes the week you meant to spend on the listing or the call.

What Acquire.com does

Acquire.com is a marketplace where you list a startup for sale. If it sells, you pay a closing fee that is a percentage of the purchase price.

Acquire.com lists SaaS, ecommerce, Shopify apps, mobile apps, and marketplaces. A listing must be currently operating and revenue-generating, apart from a few pre-revenue SaaS exceptions, and it needs a secure website and a price multiple the curation team can verify.

A listing is for a sale of the startup. Acquire.com does not support a transfer of fractional shares, and it does not do licensing deals.

A listing is not a sale yet. If you have prepared well, you could sell in fewer than 30 days. In a tougher market, or if you need more time to prepare, it might take a year or more. You pay the closing fee only if you sell the business. While the startup is live on the marketplace, you pay a monthly listing fee. There are no other admin costs on that fee. You still own the company while it is only listed. You give it up when you sign the purchase agreement and transfer the assets that agreement names.

The seller process Acquire.com describes runs in this order:

1. Once the listing is live, buyers request access and you evaluate whether they fit.
2. You review each letter of intent, negotiate price and terms, then accept or reject it.
3. After due diligence you sign an asset purchase agreement that sets the assets, terms, and closing conditions.
4. The buyer funds escrow, you transfer the assets named in the agreement, and escrow releases the funds after the buyer approves them.

That sequence is a sale of the startup. It is not a license of the records, and Acquire.com says it does not do licensing deals. If the company is already closed, it does not meet the rule that a listing be currently operating. Do not force a closed company into a form that asks for revenue and a live website.

What Acquisition.com does

Acquisition.com says it invests in and scales other businesses. The biography page says the portfolio has 10 companies, with ownership from 20% to 100%. That is an ownership stake, not a listing on a marketplace.

The scaling workshop asks you to be active in business, to meet a revenue threshold, and to operate in an industry where Acquisition.com is confident it can help. Those requirements are discussed on a call.

The homepage also describes a two-day scaling workshop at their office. Day one is frameworks they say they use in the portfolio. Day two is small groups with directors. Speakers are the team that runs the portfolio. That is a workshop for people who are already in business. It is not a place to post a startup for sale, and it is not a broker who will run an auction for you.

Fit for the scaling workshop is decided on a call. The homepage says the requirements include being active in business, a revenue threshold, and an industry where Acquisition.com is confident it can help. The Acquisition.com homepage does not list a dollar price for the scaling workshop or for joining the portfolio. It sends those requirements to a call. The Acquisition.com homepage describes a portfolio and a scaling workshop. It does not list a seller fee for listing a company for sale. If a page on another domain quotes a seller commission for Acquisition.com, that number is not on the homepage or the biography page. Use the call if you want their requirements. Do not invent a listing fee they have not put on those pages.

Ownership from 20% to 100% means the stake can be a minority position or the whole company, depending on the deal they actually offer. The biography page gives that range. It does not give your price, your percent, or a promise that they will invest. A workshop registration is not a portfolio investment. Read the document in front of you before you treat a calendar invite as a term sheet.

Fees, side by side

Put the two fee statements next to each other before you decide which site matches the job. One number is a marketplace schedule. The other is the absence of a seller-fee schedule on the pages named here.

Acquire.com's schedule, from April 17, 2024, is a monthly listing fee plus a closing fee only if the startup sells. Up to a $250,000 asking price: $25 a month and an 8% closing fee. From $250,000 to $1 million: $50 a month and 7%. Above $1 million: $100 a month and 6%. You pay the monthly amount while the listing is live. You pay the percent only when a sale closes.

Acquisition.com's homepage does not give a matching table. There is no monthly listing price and no closing percent to copy into a spreadsheet. Comparing a blank with an 8% fee does not make the workshop cheaper or more expensive. The jobs are different, so the bills are different. Ask on the call what the workshop costs if you want that number. Do not borrow Acquire.com's percent and paste it onto the other name.

Which confusion costs a seller time

The costly mistake is listing on the wrong site, or waiting for a buyer on a site that does not list startups.

If you need a buyer for an operating, revenue-generating startup, start at Acquire.com and read the seller pricing before you pay the first month. Have the financials the curation team will ask for. A listing that cannot show revenue, except for the pre-revenue SaaS cases they name, will not move. Paying the monthly fee does not create a buyer. It keeps the listing up while you wait.

If you meant the Hormozis' firm, a marketplace account will not get you into the portfolio or the workshop. You will have a listing, a monthly charge, and a closing percent if someone buys the startup. That can be the right outcome. It is not the outcome of booking the workshop. Go to acquisition.com, read the fit rules, and take the call if you want their process.

Check the domain in the browser bar, the company name on the invoice, and the counterparty on any agreement. Acquire.com's sale runs through an asset purchase agreement and escrow, on the steps its help center describes. Acquisition.com's biography talks about ownership in portfolio companies. Those are different signatures. Signing one because the name looked familiar is how a week disappears.

If neither site is the job, read exit options for founders and match the counterparty to what you are actually trying to sell, hire out, or keep.

Another option if the company is not a fit for either

If the company is not a fit for a marketplace listing or for Acquisition.com's portfolio, a license is a separate option. You keep ownership of your data and full use of it in the business. You give the data partner the right to use a de-identified copy for AI research. The cost to the company is $0. You get a yes or no within 3 days. That decision is about fit. It is not a closing date, and it does not file a sale.

Up to $150K · $0 cost · 3 days

Read Acquire.com vs Vetrix for the marketplace fee next to a license. Read Acquisition.com vs Vetrix for the portfolio and the workshop next to a license. For the wider set of exits, compare exit options for a company.

Related

• Compare

  Exit options compared: sell, broker, shut down, or license records.

• Selling a company

  How to sell a failed startup, and the options when a company cannot be sold as a whole.

• SimpleClosure, Starcycle, and Sunset

  Three startup shutdown services, on price, scope, and whether they touch data.

• Selling vs licensing data

  What changes if a company sells records instead of licensing a de-identified copy.

• Asset sale, acqui-hire, or license

  Asset sale, acqui-hire, and a data license compared for a company that is winding down.

• Acquire.com vs Vetrix

  Acquire.com lists a company for sale. Licensing the records is a separate choice.

• Acquisition.com vs Vetrix

  Acquisition.com buys and partners with businesses. It is not the startup marketplace.

• What happened to MicroAcquire

  MicroAcquire rebranded to Acquire.com. What the company said, and where seller fees are now.

• License terms

  The four license terms: what you give, keep, agree, and sign.

Sources

1. Acquire.com. Simple Pricing to Help Sell Your Business.
2. Acquire.com. Seller FAQs.
3. Acquire.com. Refunds, cancellations, and subscriptions.
4. Acquire.com. How to sell your business on Acquire.com.
5. Acquisition.com. Acquisition.com.
6. Acquisition.com. Alex Hormozi.