OPINION: Selling your startup does not mean success

In that world of startups, founders and investors, we learn to ask certain questions almost instinctively. How big can this become? How much capital will it take to get there? And, sooner or later, when do I get my money back, and at what multiple?

These are not cynical questions. They reflect the logic of venture capital, where investors put capital at risk expecting substantial returns and founders pursue growth, scale and eventually liquidity.

But there is a question we ask far less often: Are we building the companies we actually want to own, or the companies our funding models encourage us to build?

When success changes meaning

At an event recently, I found myself in a conversation with experienced tech entrepreneurs who had already built, scaled and exited companies.

One founder told the room that, knowing what she knows today, she would never have sold her first company. Another described how differently he is building his next venture after taking external capital and scaling rapidly the first time around.

These were successful entrepreneurs by conventional measures. Yet their experiences had changed how they thought about ownership, ambition and what they ultimately wanted from building a business. Their reflections revealed an interesting tension: the decisions that help founders achieve one definition of success can sometimes take them further away from another.

In Vienna, the sixth and seventh generations of A.E. Köchert, the former Imperial Court jeweller founded in 1814, offer a strikingly different time horizon.

Their focus on craftsmanship, customer relationships and continuity illustrates how ownership across generations can shape business priorities. It is a mindset familiar in many multigenerational companies: the determination not to be the last generation.

It raises a broader question: how profoundly does a company’s definition of success shape what it builds, protects and passes on?

Capital is never just capital

For startup founders, choosing a funding model is one of the earliest and most consequential strategic decisions.

Venture capital can accelerate international expansion, product development and market leadership. In sectors where speed and scale are decisive, it can be the difference between building a category leader and being overtaken by competitors. But venture capital also comes with an economic logic. Fund lifecycles, return expectations and portfolio dynamics can influence the growth strategies, financing decisions and exit opportunities that investors favour.

A business that could generate attractive profits for its founder over decades may not necessarily deliver the scale or liquidity a venture fund requires. That does not make it a bad business. It may simply be the wrong business for that particular capital.

The reverse is equally true. A founder determined to retain complete control may underinvest in a market where rapid expansion is essential, sacrificing long-term competitiveness for short-term independence.

The real strategic challenge is aligning the company’s economics, the investors’ expectations and the founder’s ambitions. An investor may favour an acquisition that delivers an attractive return within the fund’s investment horizon, while the founder sees greater value in remaining independent. Both can be acting rationally, yet pursuing fundamentally different outcomes. When those interests are aligned, capital can be a powerful accelerator. When they are not, even a growing and successful business can become a source of conflict.

The ownership decisions that shape your future

In his research at Harvard Business School, Noam Wasserman explored a related tension through the founder’s “Rich versus King” dilemma: the choices that help build a more valuable company can require founders to surrender ownership and control. But I think the question extends beyond wealth versus control. It is also about time horizons, incentives and the freedom to redefine success as a company evolves.

Before raising capital, founders should consider three questions.

What kind of business am I building? A venture-scale technology company pursuing global market leadership may require a very different capital structure from a profitable business designed to compound value over decades.

Whose definition of success will ultimately determine our decisions? Founders and investors may agree on growth while having different expectations around profitability, ownership and the timing of an exit.

What am I willing to sacrifice and what must I protect? Speed, independence, culture, product quality and long-term flexibility all have value. Understanding which trade-offs are acceptable matters more than following a fashionable funding strategy.

These questions do not have universally correct answers. But avoiding them does not make the trade-offs disappear.

Ambition has more than one shape

Europe needs founders willing to build globally competitive companies. We need venture capital, ambitious growth strategies and entrepreneurs prepared to take extraordinary risks. But we also need to recognise that not every successful company should follow the same financial blueprint.

A successful funding round is not the same as a successful business. A higher valuation does not automatically mean greater long-term value. And an exit, however financially rewarding, is not necessarily every founder’s ultimate ambition.

After years in the startup and investment ecosystem, spending time with businesses that think in generations rather than funding rounds has not made me less interested in growth. It has made me more interested in what we are actually growing towards. 

You may want to raise €100 million and build a global category leader. You may want to retain control and own your company in 30 years. Or you may want to build something the next generation will inherit.

The mistake is not choosing one model over another. The mistake is adopting someone else’s definition of success without understanding what it will require you to sacrifice.

Know which game you are playing. And make sure it is the one you actually want to win.

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