For much of the past two years, the UK tech scene has lived with a simple tension: plenty of innovation, but fewer clean exit stories. Valuations cooled, funding rounds took longer, and buyers became choosier. Now, as deal conversations pick up again across software, fintech, cybersecurity and healthtech, one thing is clear – “growth at any cost” is no longer the default story that wins.
Instead, acquirers and investors are digging deeper into how a company actually makes money, how predictable that revenue is, and how resilient the business looks when the market shifts. It’s not just about being a fast mover. It’s about being a well-built one.
For founders, that change can feel frustrating at first. But it also creates an advantage: the companies that understand how buyers think can shape their story earlier, tighten the fundamentals, and walk into exit discussions from a position of control rather than hope.
What’s driving the shift in valuation thinking?
In many tech-led businesses, the product is strong, the team is strong, and customer feedback looks positive – yet the valuation expectations are still lower than the founder anticipated. That gap often comes down to how buyers evaluate risk.
Today’s valuation conversations are more likely to focus on:
● Revenue quality: Is it recurring, contracted, diversified, and “sticky”?
● Gross margin and delivery risk: Does growth create operational strain, or does it scale cleanly?
● Customer concentration: Are you over-reliant on a small number of accounts?
● Retention and expansion: Are customers renewing and growing, or are you replacing churn with new sales?
● Cash discipline: Are you measuring efficiency properly, not just top-line momentum?
● Defensibility: Is the business differentiated in a way that’s hard to copy?
For tech founders, none of this is news – but what’s changed is how aggressively these points are weighted. A buyer may still love the product, but they’ll pay for the confidence that the business can deliver results without hidden surprises.
The “exit story” starts earlier than most teams think
Many leadership teams treat exit readiness as something to worry about when a deal is already on the horizon. In practice, the highest-value exits are usually built over time. The operational improvements that boost valuation – better reporting, clearer pricing logic, stronger retention, cleaner customer segmentation – are not last-minute fixes.
They’re habits.
A useful way to think about it is this: when a buyer makes an offer, they’re not only purchasing today’s revenue. They’re purchasing the likelihood that the revenue continues – and the likelihood that it grows.
That’s why exit preparation often overlaps with good management discipline. A company that can clearly explain its unit economics, pipeline health, retention drivers and product roadmap risks is easier to trust. And trust, in a deal process, is expensive.
Value growth isn’t only about “more growth”
In tech circles, growth is sometimes treated as the universal answer. But growth only increases valuation when it’s accompanied by clarity and control.
For example, two SaaS companies can have the same revenue and growth rate, but dramatically different valuations if one has:
● strong net revenue retention,
● clear segmentation and ICP fit,
● low churn with repeatable onboarding,
● predictable sales cycles,
● disciplined costs and clean reporting.
Meanwhile, the other may have volatile churn, scattered customer types, custom work hiding inside “product revenue,” and a pipeline that depends heavily on a single channel.
Both are “growing.” Only one is de-risking.
This is where founders can benefit from outside perspective – not because they lack capability, but because it’s hard to see your own business the way a buyer will see it. That’s why many teams look for frameworks that translate operational decisions into valuation outcomes, including
insights from the ExitPros advisors.
What buyers tend to ask – and what founders should prepare
Even when the deal climate improves, due diligence questions remain tough. Buyers aren’t trying to be difficult; they’re trying to protect themselves. The more confidently you can answer, the more you reduce friction and protect value.
Common areas where founders can get ahead include:
1) Revenue definition and product delivery
If any meaningful part of revenue depends on bespoke services, heavy implementation, or founder-led delivery, buyers will want to understand the risk. The goal isn’t to remove services completely – it’s to present them clearly, price them properly, and show how the business scales without breaking.
2) Customer concentration
A single large client can be a blessing and a valuation drag at the same time. Teams that can show a plan – and progress – toward diversification typically reduce buyer anxiety.
3) Retention and expansion drivers
Buyers want proof that customer growth is repeatable. If retention is high, explain why. If expansion is happening, show what triggers it. If churn exists, show that you’ve identified patterns and corrected them.
4) Metrics that match the business model
A marketplace, a usage-based platform, and a subscription SaaS product should not report success in identical ways. Buyers look for businesses that understand their own levers and track what actually matters.
5) A clear narrative for why the business wins
Differentiation doesn’t have to be dramatic. It can be a niche focus, a distribution advantage, a strong product workflow, or regulatory expertise. What matters is that it’s real – and that customers agree with it.
Why UK tech leaders should care about “value growth” now
Even if you’re not planning to sell next year, value growth work can pay off in multiple ways:
● You become fundraising-ready without rushing.
● You build a company that’s easier to scale and delegate.
● You reduce dependency on any one client, channel, or individual.
● You strengthen decision-making with better data and clearer margins.
● You create optionality: exit, acquisition, secondary, or long-term ownership.
In other words, “exit readiness” is often just another name for building a business that can stand on its own legs.
The quiet opportunity in a more selective market
The best exits don’t always happen in the hottest market. They happen when a company is well-positioned, cleanly run, and able to demonstrate predictable performance. A selective market can even help, because it filters out weak signals and rewards the businesses that have done the work.
This is also why practical guidance is becoming more popular: founders are increasingly looking for grounded, operator-friendly ways to connect everyday improvements with long-term valuation. ExitPros is one example of a team that focuses on that bridge – helping leadership teams think through what actually drives value and what tends to get questioned when a buyer steps in.
As the UK tech sector pushes into its next cycle – with more disciplined capital, more focused M&A, and a sharper eye on fundamentals – companies that treat value growth as a strategy (not a last-minute project) will likely be the ones writing the strongest exit stories.
And for founders who want a simple takeaway: build the business buyers trust, and valuation follows.
