Is your SaaS actually protected from AI disruption, or are acquirers walking away without even looking? In this episode, Rob Walling talks with Einar Vollset of Discretion Capital for a front-lines SaaS M&A market report, covering how the acquisition climate has shifted since 2021, why some PE firms now require at least one AI moat before they'll even look at a deal, and a breakdown of all five moats: hardware-software coupling, two-sided network effects, communication graph embeds, proprietary data with closed feedback loops, and operational switching costs. Topics we cover: - (2:05) – State of SaaS M&A from 2020 to today - (5:49) – Why 2021 was the best time to sell - (7:38) – How the 2022 downturn raised the acquisition bar - (8:59) – The SaaS apocalypse narrative and AI FUD - (12:26) – Why bootstrappers should care about exit markets - (15:52) – AI moat #1: Hardware-software coupling - (17:38) – AI moat #2: Marketplace scale and two-sided network effects - (20:05) – AI moat #3: Communication graph and relationship embed - (21:27) – AI moat #4: Proprietary data with closed feedback loops - (23:20) – AI moat #5: Operational embed and switching costs - (27:28) – Some PE firms now require at least one moat - (29:23) – AI-native SaaS faces even higher hurdles Links from the show: - [MicroConf Connect](https://microconfconnect.com/) Next Live Session: [Jim Zarkadas](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimzarkadas/) on User-Friendly Onboarding (June 17) - [TinySeed](https://tinyseed.com/) - [MicroConf YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@MicroConf) - [The SaaS Playbook](https://saasplaybook.com/) - [Discretion Capital M&A Guide](https://discretioncapital.com/guide) - [Fiscal.ai](http://fiscal.ai) - [DealForma](https://dealforma.com/) - [BuiltWith](https://builtwith.com/) - [ZyraTalk](https://www.zyratalk.com/) - [EverCommerce](https://www.evercommerce.com/) - [Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X](https://twitter.com/einarvollset) If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please [submit your question](https://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/contact) for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: [iTunes](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startups-for-the-rest-of-us/id366931951) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5089lJbLDOmXCvbcJzLZYj)