Startup culture has convinced founders that selling a company for $1 billion is somehow the goal. The math is kinda insane though..
In one study of more than 1000 seed funded startups, less than 1% became billion-dollar companies.
And even if you somehow get there, you probably don't own anywhere close to 100% anymore.
Carta data shows the median founding team owns around 56% after seed, 36% after Series A, and just 16% by Series C...
That's split across the entire founding team too!
Then you've got investors, employees, preferences, taxes and potentially a decade of your life spent building the thing.
Or...
You bootstrap a startup.
Own 80-100%.
Make it profitable.
Sell it for $3M-$5M.
Put a few million bucks in the bank and go live basically the same life most rich people live.
Nice house, vacations, great restaurants, invest your money, spend time with your family.
Build whatever you want next.
Maybe you're flying business instead of private.
And you probably skipped 90% of the stress required to chase that billion dollar outcome.
Building a unicorn is an incredible feat for sure.
But founders shouldn't feel like they need one to win.
A few million dollars, complete control of your time and the freedom to build whatever you want next is a pretty damn incredible outcome too.
P.S. thinking about selling your startup? Our team will help you understand what your business is worth, prepare it for buyers, and guide you through the entire acquisition process. Meet the team here:
acquire.com/guided-by-acquir…