How I Evaluate SaaS Deals in Under 30 Minutes

Most SaaS deals aren’t hard to analyze, they just aren’t worth your time.

When I get a deal in my inbox, I don’t jump into a deep financial model or call the founder.

I run a quick 30-minute filter.

The goal isn’t to buy—it’s to decide if the deal is worth digging into further.

Here’s my fast filter checklist to separate real potential from polished distractions.

1. MRR Sweet Spot

I’m looking for products with:

• $5K–$50K MRR (Ideally profitable)

• Growing or flat—not declining

• Recurring and not too seasonal

💡 Why?

Under $5K, there’s often no real business yet. Over $50K, I need to move faster and likely compete.

2. Churn Check (Quick Math)

I ask for:

• Gross churn

• Net revenue retention (NRR)

📉 Red flags:

• >6% monthly churn is usually a killer unless ARPU is super low (like <$10)

• NRR < 90% means the product likely isn’t sticky

3. Tech Stack Red Lights

I’ll pass (or discount hard) if I see:

• Custom backend frameworks with zero documentation

• Built on no-code with deeply nested logic

• Messy hand-rolled billing systems

🛠 I prefer:

Rails, Laravel, Node, Firebase, Stripe, Paddle—boring is good.

4. Traffic & Channels

I check:

• Top 3 traffic sources

• % from paid vs. organic

• Whether there’s a moat (SEO, community, integrations)

🔍 Quick filter:

If >50% of traffic is paid and there’s no brand, I usually pass.

5. Founder Motivation

Within 2 minutes of reading their note or deck, I ask:

“Does this founder really want to sell?”

🚩 Red flags:

• “I’m just exploring options…”

• “We’re not in a rush…”

• “Looking for strategic partners…”

🧠 If they’re not serious, I’m not either.

6. Easy Wins Potential

If I see even one of the following, I flag it for a deeper look:

• No email flows in place

• Pricing way below competitors

• A slow, unoptimized site

• No affiliate/referral program

✅ These are playbook-friendly wins that can 2x a business.

Final Thought

You don’t need hours to spot a good SaaS deal.

You need a framework that cuts through the noise.

Mine takes 30 minutes.

And if it passes? That’s when I go deep.