> If you raise VC money, the above scenarios are considered a failure. You will have to shutdown/get acquired for nothing. You have to shoot for the moon to get massive ARR, that very very few companies ever hit.

N=1 example at least to the contrary... I read this a year ago.

https://twitter.com/robgo/status/1559517843388977152

I don't know who the company was, what the terms were, who/if were other investors, etc. But as I read it... the company was venture-backed, didn't really create (or pivoted away from) something that was "venture scale" but otherwise had built a good business.

The end result however, was not shutdown/get acquired.

By building a good business, the company gave themselves optionality with their current investors and seemingly got to a good outcome for everyone.

If you know your business is not going to be venture scale... there are probably better sources of capital out there for you to leverage if you need it (or bootstrap). Stresses that create less stress, less friction, etc.

That being said - venture or not... don't forget to build a good business.

Disclosure: NextView is one of our investors hence why I stumbled upon that post of Rob's back then.