I wish I could see more info about the businesses like cash and cash equivalents, total debt, and free cash flow over the last 5-10 years broken down by year. Would help me do a quick back of the napkin valuation based on my own goals to decide if I'm interested in taking the next step.
We actually have that level of financial detail for many of our listings from our broker partners. The challenge has been figuring out the best way to present it. putting raw financials out publicly isn't the right move for the sellers.
So our next big build is a secure data room. The goal is to use that verified data to create richer, dynamic visualizations and financial summaries that a seller or broker can share securely with a qualified buyer. it's a big priority for us.
Great feedback, it's exactly where our heads are at.
Imagine trying to buy a house before Zillow. That’s what buying a local business is like today. It's a massive market, but it's completely fragmented and stuck in the 90s.
My co-founder, Luis, discovered this firsthand by knocking on doors to buy six of his own businesses. I saw it at industry conferences, where at 29, I’m usually the youngest person in the room. The system is built on gatekept information and a wall of fees designed to keep people out.
For a small business owner, it starts with a gut punch: you have to pay thousands of dollars just to get an idea of what your life's work is worth. Then, you face thousands more in listing fees just to get it seen on an outdated platform.
This broken model forces brokers to be gatekeepers. The high costs mean they can only list a fraction of their clients' businesses, hiding the rest on thousands of separate, clunky websites.
We’re trying to fix this by building the single, open, and free platform this market needs. We got rid of the scary upfront fees by offering free, instant valuations, and unlocked the hidden market by making all listings free.
It’s one place for owners, buyers, and brokers to finally connect efficiently.
It seems to be working. We’ve welcomed over 1,300 brokers who have listed 3,800+ businesses across all 50 states.
It's still early days, but our goal is to build this into the definitive marketplace for local businesses, creating the first real source of truth for valuations and making the entire process, from discovery to closing, more straightforward.
We’re building in the open and would love your feedback.
Ask us anything.
on sales, it's still a bit early for us to know the final number of closed deals. The average business takes 6-12 months to sell, and we've only been seeing a real flow of leads for the last 4 months (we've been live for 6). what we can say is we've generated 182 qualified leads for sellers and their brokers.
You've actually hit on one of the core problems we're trying to solve. Right now, deals go offline into private systems and the data gets lost. Our long-term goal is to build the rails for the entire transaction.
As for how we make money, our model is basically zillow's. It's completely free for an owner to list their business and for buyers to search. We make money by connecting sellers with our network of professional brokers. Brokers can then choose to pay for more visibility in their local zip codes.
It lets us keep the marketplace itself open and free for everyone.
In the sense that we're trying to make buying and selling businesses as efficient as possible, yes!
however local businesses transactions have their own specific challenges, state dependent regulation, messier financials, emotional rollercoasters, a lot of secrecy, distrust, longer timeframes. It's really inaccessible for most people right now, and that's what we're trying to change.
I wish I could see more info about the businesses like cash and cash equivalents, total debt, and free cash flow over the last 5-10 years broken down by year. Would help me do a quick back of the napkin valuation based on my own goals to decide if I'm interested in taking the next step.
Hi phy!
We actually have that level of financial detail for many of our listings from our broker partners. The challenge has been figuring out the best way to present it. putting raw financials out publicly isn't the right move for the sellers.
So our next big build is a secure data room. The goal is to use that verified data to create richer, dynamic visualizations and financial summaries that a seller or broker can share securely with a qualified buyer. it's a big priority for us.
Great feedback, it's exactly where our heads are at.
First impression: Bizbuysell with extra LLM.
Hey HN, Joel here, co-founder of Venturu.
Imagine trying to buy a house before Zillow. That’s what buying a local business is like today. It's a massive market, but it's completely fragmented and stuck in the 90s.
My co-founder, Luis, discovered this firsthand by knocking on doors to buy six of his own businesses. I saw it at industry conferences, where at 29, I’m usually the youngest person in the room. The system is built on gatekept information and a wall of fees designed to keep people out.
For a small business owner, it starts with a gut punch: you have to pay thousands of dollars just to get an idea of what your life's work is worth. Then, you face thousands more in listing fees just to get it seen on an outdated platform.
This broken model forces brokers to be gatekeepers. The high costs mean they can only list a fraction of their clients' businesses, hiding the rest on thousands of separate, clunky websites.
We’re trying to fix this by building the single, open, and free platform this market needs. We got rid of the scary upfront fees by offering free, instant valuations, and unlocked the hidden market by making all listings free.
It’s one place for owners, buyers, and brokers to finally connect efficiently.
It seems to be working. We’ve welcomed over 1,300 brokers who have listed 3,800+ businesses across all 50 states.
It's still early days, but our goal is to build this into the definitive marketplace for local businesses, creating the first real source of truth for valuations and making the entire process, from discovery to closing, more straightforward.
We’re building in the open and would love your feedback. Ask us anything.
How many businesses have sold?
How do you make money?
Hey, jon, thanks for the questions
on sales, it's still a bit early for us to know the final number of closed deals. The average business takes 6-12 months to sell, and we've only been seeing a real flow of leads for the last 4 months (we've been live for 6). what we can say is we've generated 182 qualified leads for sellers and their brokers.
You've actually hit on one of the core problems we're trying to solve. Right now, deals go offline into private systems and the data gets lost. Our long-term goal is to build the rails for the entire transaction.
As for how we make money, our model is basically zillow's. It's completely free for an owner to list their business and for buyers to search. We make money by connecting sellers with our network of professional brokers. Brokers can then choose to pay for more visibility in their local zip codes.
It lets us keep the marketplace itself open and free for everyone.
so is this just like Flippa or Acquire.com but for local brick and mortar businesses?
In the sense that we're trying to make buying and selling businesses as efficient as possible, yes!
however local businesses transactions have their own specific challenges, state dependent regulation, messier financials, emotional rollercoasters, a lot of secrecy, distrust, longer timeframes. It's really inaccessible for most people right now, and that's what we're trying to change.