Slow Growth + Boring Industry = Huge Winner

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The 0 to $100 million stories only happen in AI infra. What about the rest of the economy?

You can still build an amazing business while growing more slowly. You just need to do things a little differently…

Building In a Boring Industry

A while back, I met with a startup selling to food prep companies. It’s a huge market.

But no startup in that market is going to go from 0 to $100 million in a year.

Big food companies just aren’t fast moving. Expect lengthy pilots and slow rollouts.

On the bright side, they rarely churn.

The same is true in healthcare, education, and most of the economy. These are still fertile areas to build in.

Just don’t expect growth that looks like an AI infra company.

Being Breakeven Gives You Options

If you know your startup isn’t going 0 to $100 million in a year, just run it breakeven.

To raise capital today, you need ridiculous growth. If you don’t have it, just assume you’ll never raise a dime.

If your startup is breakeven or profitable, those crazy expectations from VC’s don’t matter. You don’t need them.

How Slow Is Too Slow?

Even in boring industries, you still need to grow. It’s the best sign that someone actually cares about your product.

Set your growth bar at tripling for three years, then doubling for three years. That gets you from $1 million to $216 million ARR in just six years.

That’s incredible growth. You’re now a multi-billion dollar company.

Wrap-Up

Maybe you didn’t go from 0 to infinity ARR in 3 seconds. That’s okay!

You can still build a massive, enduring business — especially in slower moving industries that control trillions of dollars.

Set your growth bar at an ambitious but reasonable level. Then, go make your customers happy.

And if the VC’s don’t like it? That’s their problem.