Understanding the Landscape: Who’s Who in the World of Startups, Investors, and Growth
For founders, it can sometimes feel like you’re navigating a maze. The business world is crowded with incubators, accelerators, VCs, growth equity, private equity, and countless others. And, as you grow, you’ll have more and more of these emailing you quarterly and requesting a call to “learn more”!
Each type of organization has its own sweet spot— and most have very, very specific company sizes and types that they’re looking for (e.g., we only invest in vertical SaaS with at least $3M in revenue and a growth rate of 50%) but that isn’t always clear. Understanding where these players operate in terms of customer size and stage is critical to knowing who might be the right partner at the right time.
Here’s a breakdown of the types of companies and investors you’ll encounter, organized by company size and stage.
1. Small Scale (Idea → Early Traction, <$1M Revenue)
At this stage, companies are focused on validating their idea, building an MVP, and finding early customers.
Incubators
What they do: Provide resources, mentorship, and a safe space to test ideas.
Best for: Founders who are still building or validating a product.
Examples: University innovation labs, Techstars (incubator arms).
Accelerators
What they do: Cohort-based programs with funding, mentorship, and demo days.
Best for: Founders with an MVP and early customers, ready to grow quickly.
Examples: Y Combinator, 500 Global, Plug and Play.
Angels & Family Offices
What they do: Provide flexible early-stage capital.
Best for: Founders looking for their first external checks before raising institutional money.
Examples: Individual angels (e.g., Naval Ravikant), regional family offices.
Government / Nonprofit Funding
What they do: Offer grants and non-dilutive capital for R&D or social impact.
Examples: SBIR/STTR grants, NIH, local economic development agencies.
2. Medium Scale (Early Growth → Proven Traction, $1M–$10M Revenue)
Companies here have moved beyond survival—they’ve found product-market fit and are building repeatable sales motion.
Seed / Early-Stage Venture Capital (VCs)
What they do: Write larger checks ($500K–$5M), often join the board, and push for growth.
Best for: Founders scaling beyond friends-and-family money, building a team, and accelerating sales.
Examples: Accel (early-stage funds), First Round Capital, Initialized Capital.
Strategic Investors / Corporate Venture
What they do: Large corporations invest in companies that align with their long-term strategy.
Best for: Founders building products that fit into an industry giant’s ecosystem.
Examples: Salesforce Ventures, Intel Capital, Google Ventures.
3. Large Scale (Expansion → Mature, $10M+ Revenue)
At this stage, businesses are more established with a significant customer base, often operating across multiple markets.
Growth Equity
What they do: Provide $10M+ checks to scale proven business models, expand internationally, or make acquisitions.
Best for: Founders who want to accelerate growth but don’t want to sell the business.
Examples: Summit Partners, General Atlantic, Insight Partners.
Private Equity (PE)
What they do: Acquire controlling stakes in mature companies, focus on operational efficiency, expansion, and eventual exit.
Best for: Founders seeking liquidity events or wanting partners to help optimize the business at scale.
Examples: Blackstone, KKR, Bain Capital.
4. Beyond Size: Flexible Players Across Stages
Some groups operate at multiple levels depending on their strategy:
Corporate VCs → May invest as early as seed or as late as growth.
Family Offices → Often opportunistic, can write small or large checks depending on mandate.
Impact Funds / Philanthropic Capital → Provide mission-aligned funding across stages.
5. Other Players Who Will Reach Out
As your business grows, you’ll encounter groups beyond investors who want to engage with you. Some are helpful, some are opportunistic—many want to sell you their services. It’s important to understand who they are.
Sell-Side Advisors / Bankers
What they do: Help founders prepare for fundraising or sale processes. They bring relationships and structure but take fees or equity.
Best for: Later-stage founders considering a large raise or exit.
Examples: Boutique investment banks, regional advisory shops.
Revenue-Based Financing (RBF) Firms
What they do: Provide non-dilutive funding, repaid as a % of monthly revenue. Faster than equity, but can get expensive.
Best for: Founders with predictable recurring revenue who want to avoid dilution.
Examples: Lighter Capital, Clearco, Pipe.
Payment Processors with Lending Arms
What they do: Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, and Square offer capital advances based on payment volume.
Best for: Founders with strong transaction flow who need quick, short-term cash without equity.
Examples: Stripe Capital, PayPal Working Capital, Shopify Capital, Square Loans.
Alternative Debt Providers
What they do: Venture debt or credit facilities from banks/fintechs. Lower dilution but requires solid financials.
Examples: Silicon Valley Bank (pre-collapse), Mercury, Brex Capital.
6. Managing Investor Relationships Before You’re Ready
Even if you’re not ready to raise money today, it’s wise to start building relationships early. Investors are more likely to back a founder they’ve known and tracked over time than someone they meet once in a pitch.
Best practices:
Build a Watchlist: Identify 10–20 investors who fit your stage and sector.
Share Updates: Send informal quarterly updates—even if you’re not fundraising.
Ask for Advice, Not Money: Approach investors for specific feedback or requests for introductions (e.g., if you have a company in their portfolio you’d like to partner with), not just a check.
Show Traction Over Time: Demonstrate steady progress over 6–12 months.
Don’t oversell—each of these players is tracking every call and every data point you share. They’ll be checking between conversations whether you’ve hit the targets you laid out! Authenticity and accuracy builds long-term trust.
By the time you’re ready to formally raise, investors will already be familiar with your story and trajectory—giving you a huge advantage.
