Can a former owner refer the company they sold to SourceX?

The short answer

Yes, a former owner can refer the company they sold. What changes at closing is authority, not the ability to make an introduction. After the sale the new owner controls the business and its records, so only the new owner's authorized sponsor (an owner, CEO, CFO or authorized representative) can decide whether to license data and sign the agreement.

Credit follows SourceX's normal attribution rule: it goes to the first valid referrer whose introduction leads to a verified company application within the attribution window. A former owner who registers first and then introduces the new owner is treated like any other partner.

The question comes up more often as founders retire. McKinsey estimates that about six million US small and medium-size businesses will face ownership transitions by 2035 as baby boomers retire, so many former owners will know a business with years of records they no longer control.

What changes after closing

The last row matters most. Copies a seller keeps after closing, such as a laptop, a mailbox export or a shared drive, are not a licensing asset. The right to license sits with whoever owns the records under the purchase agreement, and SourceX works only with the authorized sponsor of the company that owns them.

The cleanest time to decide on a license is before the sale; the guide to building an M&A buyer list explains where a license track sits alongside a sale process. After closing, the decision belongs to the buyer.

When can a former owner earn a referral reward?

All of these have to happen, in this order:

1. You register as a partner before making the introduction.
2. You introduce the new owner's sponsor with your referral link or the referral form.
3. Your introduction is the first valid one and leads to a verified company application within the attribution window.
4. The company qualifies, agrees price and terms, and signs a license.
5. The buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee.

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company. The reward is paid only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee; an introduction, meeting or signed agreement alone does not trigger payment, and no reward is guaranteed. The program terms set the details.

If the buyer's own advisor, a lender or anyone else made a valid introduction before you, the credit is theirs.

What to check in your sale documents first

Many sale documents contain covenants that outlive closing. Read them, or ask your deal counsel, before contacting the new owner.

• Confidentiality: you may have agreed not to use or disclose company information after closing, so the introduction should rely only on what the new owner already knows
• Non-solicitation and non-competition: confirm that introducing a service provider to the company is not restricted
• Earnout: if part of your price depends on post-closing results, a license payment to the company could interact with the earnout metrics, so raise it openly with the buyer
• Employment or consulting agreement: if you still work for the company, the new owner's policies on outside compensation and conflicts apply
• Retained records: confirm what you kept and why, and that none of it will be shared

Be open about the reward. FTC staff guidance on endorsements says a connection between an endorser and a marketer that the audience would not expect should be disclosed clearly; if you recommend SourceX publicly while registered as a partner, say that you are paid for referrals. In a private introduction, simply tell the new owner. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel before acting.

What to say to the new owner

Saying it up front protects the relationship and keeps any earnout conversation clean.

When the concern is valid

Sometimes the right answer is not to make the introduction yourself:

• Your sale documents or employment terms restrict it, or your counsel advises against it.
• The relationship with the buyer is strained, or an earnout dispute is open.
• The company has already licensed the same data for AI training, or deleted its archives during integration.
• The company never reached 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded).

In those cases the new owner can still apply directly at sourcex.si/apply, and the company fit checker gives anyone a preliminary, non-binding read first. Owners still preparing a sale should look at removing owner personal data from company systems before handing systems over.

Next step

If your sale documents allow it and the company meets the baseline on who qualifies, register as a partner before you make the introduction.