Libsyn Directory

A Guide to Funding Options for Early-Stage SaaS Founders With Denise Edwards [Ep.183]

Release Date: 07/02/2025

How To Win Visibility in AI Search With Sergey Lucktinov [Ep.199]

Empire Flippers Podcast

AI tools are already answering your customers’ questions. The real question is, how do you ensure your business is part of those answers?In this episode, we sit down with Sergey Lucktinov, an AI search visibility expert who has spent more than a decade navigating algorithm shifts and rethinking how businesses get discovered online. Sergey breaks down how visibility works in the age of AI and what business owners need to do to make sure their brand is actually being mentioned, not silently skipped. We explore how AI has fundamentally changed SEO. The focus is no longer on keywords and...

Can You Buy a Business Without Spending Any Money? [Ep.198]

Empire Flippers Podcast

You don’t need to drain your bank account to buy a business. In fact, many of the best deals are done with very little personal capital. In this episode, Greg breaks down how buyers structure acquisitions using financing instead of their own money. There are two buckets of money you can draw from when buying a business: your own personal funds and external financing. One of the most powerful external financing tools Greg highlights is seller financing. This approach allows you to structure deals where the seller essentially lends you the money, often interest-free, and can be combined with...

A Practical Guide to Business Acquisitions for First-Time Buyers With Matt Raad [Ep.197]

Empire Flippers Podcast

Buying an online business can feel overwhelming, especially if you are new to acquisitions. In this week’s podcast episode, we sit down with Matt Raad, a seasoned digital business buyer and coach who has helped countless first-time buyers navigate the acquisition process with confidence. Due diligence takes center stage as Matt explains what really matters when evaluating an online business and how skipping this step can turn a promising deal into an expensive mistake. For beginners, he breaks down the types of businesses that are best suited for first-time buyers and why simpler models...

How to Find The Safest Business to Buy [Ep.196]

Empire Flippers Podcast

Buying a business is one of the biggest financial decisions most entrepreneurs will ever make. For many first-time buyers, it’s terrifying. You're putting a meaningful chunk of your net worth on the line and hoping you’ve chosen wisely. So what actually makes a business safe to buy? In this episode, Greg Elfrink breaks down the realities of business risk and shares practical criteria buyers can use to separate stable, reliable businesses from the ones that keep you up at night.Greg starts by reminding us that there’s no such thing as a risk-free business. But some businesses are...

Ecommerce CRO: The Fastest Way to Unlock Hidden Revenue With Jasper de Muynck [Ep.195]

Empire Flippers Podcast

If you want to squeeze more revenue out of your existing traffic, this week’s podcast episode is a must-listen. We’re diving deep into one of the most misunderstood, yet most profitable, parts of ecommerce growth: conversion rate optimization. CRO expert Jasper De Munyk joins Greg to break down the fundamentals of Shopify CRO, including what a healthy optimization process actually looks like and why it’s far more than “changing button colors.” If you’re wondering where to even begin, we cover what to tackle first when doing CRO, plus the stage of growth when investing in CRO makes...

The Before & After Formula [Ep.194]

Empire Flippers Podcast

If you know exactly what problems your customers face before and after they buy from you, you could build offers that practically sell themselves.In this episode, Greg breaks down his simple but powerful “before and after” formula. It starts by understanding the before: the frustrations, questions, and roadblocks your customers face long before they make a purchase. Solve that, and you earn the sale. But once you’ve solved it, new problems appear, and that’s your opportunity to build trust, add value, and guide customers deeper into your ecosystem. We also look at how to map the...

How to Build a Business Buyers Want With Mark Osborne [Ep.193]

Empire Flippers Podcast

Your revenue may be rising… but your business value might not be. And for founders planning an exit, that’s the only number that matters. In this week’s podcast, Greg is joined by Mark Osborne, author of Are Your Leads Killing Your Business? and one of the only Certified Exit Planning Advisors focused specifically on sales and marketing. Mark breaks down the most common exit-planning mistakes founders make long before they think about selling. We dive into why sales, marketing, and customer success shouldn’t operate as silos, but as a single value-building engine, plus the...

The Art of Post Acquisition Growth [Ep.192]

Empire Flippers Podcast

What you do after buying a business determines whether it becomes a winner or a money pit.The best way to ensure success? Copy what private equity does. After all, they’re the most experienced post-acquisition growth specialists in the business. In our latest podcast episode, Greg explores the PE strategies that turn acquisitions into scalable, profitable ventures. Greg starts with the golden rule: stabilize cash flow before making any big moves. Once the foundation is solid, you can dive into creating leverage through efficiency and eliminating redundancies across departments. This ensures...

The Seller’s Guide to Due Diligence: Myths, Mistakes, and Smarter Exits With Ahmed Raza [Ep.191]

Empire Flippers Podcast

If you’re thinking about selling your online business, there’s one part of the process that can make or break your deal: due diligence. Many sellers underestimate how important it is, and how much control they actually have over the process. In this week’s podcast episode, Greg sits down with Ahmed Raza, founder of Rapid Diligence, to unpack the realities of due diligence and how sellers can prepare to maximize their exit. Ahmed starts by breaking down what due diligence really is and the steps sellers should take long before they go to market. He explains which diligence requests...

The Future of Digital Business: AI, Faceless YouTube, & Millionaire Exits

Empire Flippers Podcast

Note: In this episode, Greg is interviewed on the . We’re sharing the interview here so that you don’t miss out on the useful M&A insights that Greg shares. Greg returns to the SirLinksalot's SEO Podcast to share his insights from selling over 2,400 businesses and playing a part in turning 90 people into millionaires. Few people have a front-row seat to the changing landscape of online business like he does. In this episode, Greg dives into what really makes an online business sellable today, drawing from years of experience watching deals happen behind the scenes. They also explore...

More Episodes

Not every SaaS success story starts with a multi-million-dollar seed round. While flashy headlines highlight startups raising big in Silicon Valley, most founders are left asking a far more practical question: Should I bootstrap, or go after funding?

In this episode, we’re joined by Denise Edwards, the founder of SaaS Launch, a platform that helps early-stage SaaS founders secure the right kind of capital and avoid the wrong kind of investor.

We dive into the different types of funding available to SaaS founders and explain the real trade-offs between raising capital vs bootstrapping. Denise breaks down dilutive vs non-dilutive funding and what those terms actually mean for your business long-term.

But it’s not just about money. Denise highlights the intangible value investors can offer, like mentorship, industry connections, and strategic insights, that often outweigh the dollar signs. We also tackle some of the biggest myths and misconceptions founders believe about fundraising.

Finally, Denise walks us through the anatomy of a great pitch, what to say, what to avoid, and how to stand out from the crowd.

Whether you're scaling with your own savings or prepping for your first round, this episode will give you the tools and insight to make smarter funding decisions for your SaaS startup.

Topics Discussed in this episode:

How Denise went from working in SaaS to starting SaaS Launch(01:56)
The different types of funding available to SaaS founders (06:30)
The pros and cons of raising funding vs bootstrapping (09:00)
Dilutive vs non-dilutive funding options (11:27)
The intangible benefits that investors bring to the table (17:00)
Common myths and misconceptions founders have about fundraising (20:00)
The KPIs and metrics that investors look at (24:20)
The biggest mistakes founders make when pitching investors (30:23)
The anatomy of a great pitch (37:33)

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Sit back, grab a coffee, and learn how to take the next step in your SaaS journey with confidence.

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