SaaStr · 2014-05-16 · 4402d

Going Big in Startups: Why the Math Matters More Than the Ideology

Jason Lemkin argues that the startup industry's obsession with "going big" is fundamentally driven by mathematics rather than ideology. He explains that founders and VCs have limited at-bats and must pursue order-of-magnitude growth to justify the time and opportunity cost, but cautions that this advice may not apply uniformly to all entrepreneurs at different stages.

4 metrics· Cited 0× in the knowledge base ·Open source ↗

Metrics in this report

Founder Career At-Bats

2-3number of startups

median

for successful founders

Return on Investment Threshold

10x multiplier

minimum

order of magnitude growth needed to justify effort

SaaS Company Building Timeline

7-10years

typical

for SaaS startups from founding to maturity

VC Deal Frequency

1-2deals per year

average

per individual VC