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The “mighty-middle” segment of startups falls between venture-scale unicorns and small businesses. These startups aim for valuations in the high single-digit to high tens of millions within 5-10 years, targeting midsize niches with significant growth potential. Enabled by internet tools, global advertising, and affordable tech, mighty-middle businesses often bootstrap, use contractors, and require entrepreneurs to acquire diverse skills. They offer a favorable risk-reward tradeoff, allowing founders to retain control and start paying themselves earlier. Investors and corporations find them attractive for their innovation and substantial returns. But to support mighty-middle startups, tailored support is required, emphasizing mentorship and showcasing successful mighty- middle examples.
The popular conception of entrepreneurship is that it comes in two sizes. Venture-scale startups aim for billion-dollar valuations within a decade by targeting large markets disruptively through innovative technologies or business models. Such aspiring “unicorns” capture the attention of many venture capitalists and angels and include success stories such as Google, Meta, and Airbnb. On the other end of the spectrum, small business entrepreneurship encompasses ventures that start small and often remain so, competing in mature markets using established templates, such as local restaurants, retailers, and service firms.
