Operator fatigue
You built it, you ran it for years, and the spark is gone. Cinderpath takes the operating weight off your shoulders, on a timeline that respects what you built.
We acquire small web businesses, and operate them with care.
Sell what you built knowing the business and the people who use it are in experienced hands. Niche tools, content properties, and single-purpose SaaS, acquired and run with the same care the people who built them put in.
Reasons sellers come to Cinderpath.
Most of the founders we hear from share one of three reasons for wanting out. We have built the firm around all three.
Wrong size for marketplaces
Most listing platforms are not built for businesses your size, and most acquirers are not, either. We are. Cinderpath specializes in small, single-operator web businesses that the rest of the market overlooks.
A clean, quiet exit
No public listing, no broker, no months of strangers in your spreadsheets. One conversation, one buyer, one close, and confidentiality on every detail you share.
What we acquire.
Cinderpath looks for small, durable web businesses that already work. Four shapes cover most of what we buy.
Niche tools
Single-purpose web utilities with a small, defended audience and a clear reason to exist.
Content properties
Blogs, guides, and reference sites that bring in dependable visitors and earn through ads, affiliates, or premium content.
Digital catalogs
Notion templates, Figma kits, ebook libraries, and digital-product shops with a back-list that keeps selling.
Single-purpose SaaS
Small subscription products with a loyal customer base, a tight feature set, and a manageable surface area.
What we look for.
- Built and run primarily by one person.
- A year or more of operating history.
- Not dependent on a paid-traffic treadmill.
- A reason to exist that survives the founder leaving.
We are not particular about technology stack or industry. We are particular about operability. A business needs to be something a small team can continue to run and improve without losing the qualities that made it work in the first place. If you are uncertain whether yours fits, send it anyway. We will tell you honestly.
Three steps from introduction to close.
We have kept the process short on purpose. A partner is on the other end at every stage. The transaction reads less like a deal and more like a measured email exchange.
You introduce the business.
A short note about what you built, what it earns, and what you would consider for it. Every introduction is read by a partner. There is no intake team, no broker, no marketplace.
We respond within five business days.
If the business is a fit, you will hear back with a small set of questions and an honest sense of where we expect a price to land. If it is not a fit, we will tell you that, and tell you why.
We agree, sign, and close.
A simple purchase agreement, a careful transfer, and a wire. Most closes are measured in days or weeks. There is no committee on our side to slow it down.
How we operate.
A handful of rules we hold the firm to, on every introduction and every close. They are the reason sellers come to us instead of a marketplace.
Every introduction is opened, read, and replied to by a partner of the firm. There is no intake queue.
We respond within five business days, every time. The reply is either a real next step or a real no.
We do not list, syndicate, or shop the businesses we acquire. What you tell us stays between us.
Most closes are measured in days or weeks. We sign a simple purchase agreement and wire on the date you need.
A direct buyer for the small web.
Cinderpath is a private buyer of small web businesses. We source, evaluate, and acquire. We do not list, syndicate, or shop what we buy, and the conversation stays between two people from first email to close.
The firm exists because most small web businesses do not get the ending they deserve. They get quiet shutdowns, abandoned codebases, and founders who checked out a year before they walked away. Marketplaces are not built for the size of business we acquire, and most acquirers are not, either. We are.
Direct.
One conversation, one buyer, no broker, no listing, no public marketplace. The whole transaction stays between two people.
Operator-led.
Cinderpath is run by an operator, not a fund. The thesis is that small web businesses do best when whoever is running them understands the work, and leaves alone whatever is already working.
Deliberately small.
Cinderpath is built around attention, not throughput. The businesses we already own come first, then the next conversation in front of us. We acquire fewer than we could on purpose.
Who you will be working with.
Nik Donovic
Nik is the Managing Partner of Cinderpath. He also serves as Associate Director of Offsite SEO at BairesDev, where he leads authority development.
The two roles compound directly. The same levers that decide whether a brand earns its place on the open web are the same levers that keep a small web business durable, and Nik has spent several years honing both the tactics and the understanding behind them. Cinderpath applies that practice to acquiring and operating small web businesses.
The thesis the firm operates on is straightforward. Small, well-built web businesses do best when whoever is running them understands how traffic, audience, and revenue actually compound, and is willing to leave alone whatever is already working.
Begin a conversation
Tell us about the business. We respond within five business days, every time. Every introduction is read and replied to by a partner, and every conversation is handled with care and discretion.
Whatever you send is enough to start. We will ask follow-up questions if we need them. There is no template. Write the way you would describe the business to someone you trusted.