I think the answer to this question revolves around how the business acquisition is funded. Start up funding is done one way. Conventional acquisitions is done totoally differently. Buyers/borrowers are forced to value the business the way the funders want, assuming they want funding. Different situations/businesses require different valuation methods.

Disagree with the above. Multiples of recurring are the norm in software in all situations. But recognize they are proxies for EBITDA in the sense that any decent software business CAN be run at 30-40% operating margins as a function of how much growth you are chasing. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to discuss further.