How do I sell my startup's data after shutting down?
In this article
Do this before the accounts lapseThe buyers that want closed companiesThe four rights questionsWhat it is worthThe order to do it inDo this before the accounts lapse
- Mirror the repositories. git clone --mirror for each one. Pull issues and pull requests through GitHub's export or API; they are not in the git history. Details.
- Export Slack. Workspace settings, Import and export data. Public channels on standard plans; everything on Business+. Details.
- Export Jira or Linear. Backup manager or the API. Details.
- Export Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. The admin data export tool, before you stop paying for seats. Details.
- Export the support desk and the CRM. Zendesk, Intercom, HubSpot all have full exports.
- Write down what each system held and the date range. Buyers ask first.
Fast Company reported in April 2026 that shuttered startups were selling old Slack chats and emails to AI companies. The archives that sell are the complete ones.
The buyers that want closed companies
| Buyer type | What | Published | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Code marketplace | Repositories | $5,000+ each, seller keeps 80%; published deals $68K to $220K | Quotes in days |
| Wind-down firm | Slack, email, code | $10,000 to $100,000 | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Small-company specialist | Everything, any size | $20,000 to $300,000 | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Enterprise buyer with connectors | Archives through connectors | Up to $300,000 (2026) | Wire 2 to 4 weeks after signing |
| Second code buyer | Legacy code, full records | $10K to $100K legacy; up to $1M full records | Not published |
| Multi-lab platform | Startup archives | $10,000 to $100,000 | Not published |
See what your company's records could get.
Ten questions, under five minutes, built from the buyers' own published ranges.
Get my estimate →The four rights questions
- Did every engineer, including contractors, assign their work to the company? If not, get the assignments now; founders usually can.
- Do investors or the board need to approve a sale of assets? In a wind-down, usually yes, and usually quickly.
- Did customer contracts forbid secondary use of their data? Those customers' records are excluded; the rest is fine.
- Are there secrets in the repository history? Scan and remove them. Buyers reject repositories with keys in them.
What it is worth
Depth and completeness decide it. A repository with five years of pull requests, a Slack archive with the engineering channels intact, and the Jira board that ties them together is the top of the closed-company market. One enterprise buyer has offered up to $300,000 for archives. A single modern repository with thin history is closer to the $5,000 floor. One wind-down firm reports Ruby and C++ codebases command a premium.
The order to do it in
- Export everything this week, while admins still have access.
- Answer the four rights questions.
- Get introduced to two buyers the same day: one for the code, one for the archive.
- Take the better offer, or both if the licenses are non-exclusive.
In short
- Export code (with history), Slack, Jira, email and the support desk before accounts lapse.
- Code marketplaces ($5K+ per repo, 80% to seller), wind-down firms ($10K to $100K), small-company specialists ($20K to $300K) and one enterprise buyer (up to $300K) buy from closed companies.
- Fastest deals in the market: one to four weeks, because a founder decides alone.
- Contractor IP assignments and secrets in the repo are the two blockers to fix first.
Questions owners ask.
The company is already dissolved.
The assets usually belong to whoever wound it down: the founders, the investors, or the assignee. Buyers will ask who has the right to sign.
We only have the repo.
Then the code buyers. A repository with real history has a price on its own.
Investors want a say.
In most wind-downs they do, and most say yes to cash. Bring them the published numbers.
Can we sell the archive and the code separately?
Yes, and often should. Different buyers pay for each.
