Baremetrics
Pioneered the 'Open Startup' movement, sold for $4M with zero federal taxes via QSBS
baremetrics.comAnnual Revenue
~$1.5M (at time of sale)
MRR
$83K (at peak before sale)
Team
~15 at peak, reduced to ~8 before sale
Funding
Bootstrapped + Small Raise
Founder
Josh Pigford
Founder & CEO (2013-2020)
Qualified for QSBS (Qualified Small Business Stock) tax exemption, paying $0 in federal taxes on the $3.7M personal payout from the $4M acquisition
What Baremetrics Does
Baremetrics is a subscription analytics and insights platform that connects directly to payment processors (Stripe, Braintree, Recurly, App Store Connect) to provide real-time dashboards showing MRR, ARR, churn, LTV, and 26+ other metrics for SaaS and subscription businesses. What made Baremetrics revolutionary wasn't just the product — it was the radical transparency. Josh Pigford made all company metrics public via the Baremetrics 'Open Startups' page, letting anyone see real-time revenue, churn, and growth data. This pioneered the 'Open Startup' movement that inspired hundreds of indie hackers and SaaS founders to share their numbers publicly. The product was built in a weekend, launched on Hacker News, and grew to $83K MRR before Josh sold it for $4M in November 2020 — a 2.65x ARR multiple. Thanks to QSBS tax exemption (Qualified Small Business Stock), Josh paid $0 in federal taxes on his $3.7M personal payout.
Revenue Highlights
- Sold for $4M in November 2020 (2.65x ARR multiple)
- $83K MRR at peak
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