Bram Kanstein
@bramk Netherlands52K followers
Dutch no-code maker of Startup Stash who built and sold five curation products
Startup Stash, StartupWatching, Road to Scale +2
exit story · 2018 · creators & writers
StartupWatching was built by Bram Kanstein and sold to Andrew Askins in 2018. At the time of the sale it made ~$12K/year estimated revenue (per buyer).
Why they sold: Bram Kanstein wanted to clear his head space to focus fully on new projects and wanted cash up front to fund them, while making sure the newsletter ended up in good hands.
StartupWatching was a curated newsletter of startup advice, founder stories and background reading, which Bram Kanstein built to more than 11,000 subscribers over 120-plus issues.
In spring 2018 Kanstein tweeted that he was looking for a buyer and listed the newsletter on the Transferslot marketplace with a $17,500 asking price. Andrew Askins, a longtime reader who ran the Charleston consultancy Krit, contacted him right away. Askins suggested a revenue share, but Kanstein preferred a clean cash sale and offered what Askins called a fair price; the final amount was not disclosed.
The deal used a one-page term sheet and was paid in Ether at a rate locked when the contract was signed. Kanstein also kept four promo spots in the newsletter for his next project, No Code MVP. The handover of the domain, website and accounts was finished in May 2018, and Askins took over as curator.
@bramk Netherlands52K followers
Dutch no-code maker of Startup Stash who built and sold five curation products
Startup Stash, StartupWatching, Road to Scale +2
See the StartupWatching product page or Bram Kanstein's full profile for everything they have built since.
Kanstein says he mostly loves the part of taking an idea to a finished product, and treats what comes after as a bonus, which is why he has sold most of his projects.
by Bram Kanstein
Same buyer, category or sale channel as StartupWatching.
→ HubSpot Media · 2026
by Pat Walls
→ Sentry · 2023
Producing the show took a full recording day each week plus time on sponsorships and editing, so Wes and Scott lacked the time and resources for what they wanted to do. Joining Sentry, a longtime sponsor, gave them a team and freed them from selling ads.
by Scott Tolinski & Wes Bos
Chris wanted to give CodePen his full attention and lacked the time to scale the site further. DigitalOcean could put a whole community and content team behind it and look after it well.
by Chris Coyier
After a round of bug fixes cut new-customer acquisition by about 70%, Nico Jeannen didn't want to spend months on code fixes and support, so he sold quickly before burning out.
by Nico Jeannen
Facts are taken from the maker's and buyer's public statements and press coverage. Prices and revenue are shown only when publicly stated; self-reported figures are not independently verified.
StartupWatching was acquired by Andrew Askins in 2018 from Bram Kanstein.
The price was not publicly disclosed. At the time of the sale StartupWatching made ~$12K/year estimated revenue (per buyer).
Bram Kanstein wanted to clear his head space to focus fully on new projects and wanted cash up front to fund them, while making sure the newsletter ended up in good hands.
StartupWatching was a marketplace: listed on a startup marketplace such as Acquire.com, Flippa or Microns.