You’re not a unicorn, so what?

Let’s be clear: only about 1% of startups ever reach unicorn status. Fintech entrepreneurs can be perfectly successful outside of this path, but they need a different approach. 

🚰 Fundamentals: achieving millions in ARR with steady growth and strong customer retention won’t make headlines but already proves something is working. In the SaaS world, only 13% hit $10M in ARR after a decade. 

📈 Growth: if you're aiming higher as a Fintech founder, you can't just rely on a formulaic approach to grow. It's a risky path that could strip your business of its unique character, push for hyper-growth without the right team in place, derail your progress and potentially jeopardize your entire venture. 

🥋 Right-sizing: if you’re already on this path, it might still be time to rectify, but you need a different approach and a different set of backers to recapitalize and reconfigure your business for responsible growth. 

In short: traditional venture investors seek out high-growth, high-return investments, driven by the Power law. Startups that don't exhibit the potential for fund-returning outcomes struggle to attract further VC investment. At the same time, they aren't stable or profitable enough to draw the attention of PE firms. Venture buyouts bridge this gap by combining operational experience and financial acumen to reconfigure the business and support companies with more classic growth trajectories and motivated founders.