How Fernando Rivero Scored a $250K SaaS Exit with XmartClock

Introduction

In late 2017, software engineer Fernando Rivero identified a gap in time-tracking tools for Latin American remote teams. While many solutions targeted North America and Europe, few offered a fully SaaS experience with a free trial period tailored to local needs. Over the next three years he built, optimized, and automated XmartClock, without employees, investors, or paid ads, until it generated $7,000 in monthly recurring revenue. In 2021, he sold the business on Acquire.com for $250,000, hitting his goal of a six-figure exit.

Early Challenges

The first growth experiments leaned on paid ads, but CPMs were high and conversion rates low. After several unprofitable campaigns, Fernando pivoted away from paid channels. He reallocated budget and time to organic SEO, researching local Spanish keywords, writing in-depth blog posts, and securing inbound links from regional HR blogs. Traffic steadily climbed, and trial signups followed.

Growth Through SEO and Automation

Focusing on long-tail terms like “control de horas remoto” and “reloj laboral SaaS, ” XmartClock climbed Google rankings. Fernando used on-page optimizations, clean URLs, descriptive meta tags, and clear CTAs, to drive signups. A mix of guest articles and forum participation built backlinks in under-served markets. Meanwhile he built simple workflows to send onboarding emails and handle billing automatically. The result were consistent net-new users each month, and a product that ran with minimal hands-on effort.

Preparing for Exit

By 2021 XmartClock had $7K MRR (≈$84K annual), stable churn, and an automated stack. Fernando listed the business on Acquire.com, expecting little interest. Within days inquiries arrived. He politely declined lowball offers until a serious buyer matched his valuation. In just two months the terms were agreed, payments cleared, and ownership transferred. The deal came in at roughly 3× ARR, a quick, clean exit.

After the Sale

Rather than buying another site, Fernando reinvested his capital into fresh projects. He runs Xenio, a WhatsApp-focused development firm, and recently launched Callendar, an AI-powered booking bot inside WhatsApp. With one exit behind him and another on the horizon, his playbook, identify a niche gap, grow with SEO, automate deeply, and list on Acquire.com, proves repeatable.