In the pursuit of growth, the question isn’t just how fast to grow, but how you want to fund that growth.
At York IE, we advocate for pragmatic growth. Instead of chasing unsustainable hypergrowth, this approach allows you to grow at a pace that makes sense for your company, your team, and your market while maintaining operational discipline with a clear path to profitability.
What is Pragmatic Growth?
Pragmatic growth means scaling your business with a focus on long-term sustainability, not just short-term wins. It’s about finding the right balance between speed and stability and making smart, deliberate decisions that align with your vision and values.
Pragmatic growth also means recognizing success in all forms, especially when it comes to exits. Our startup culture has minimized the significance of what should be celebrated.
I’ve said it before; a $15M, $25M, $50M exit should still be considered a roaring success. For the founders, teams, and families involved, these are life-changing milestones.
While billion-dollar exits grab the headlines, smaller exits represent meaningful success that’s too often overshadowed by the chase for unicorn status. I recently saw a post about “failed unicorns” which was in essence just a catch-all post of companies once valued over $1B to never sniff that outcome in an exit. With capitalization stacks, liquidity preferences, hurdles, and more, this can lead to negative or no returns for founders and employees alike (option holders be damned!).
The Different Paths for Pragmatic Growth
I’ve always believed pragmatic growth is about scaling at the right speed, not as fast as possible. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. That mindset doesn’t mean avoiding growth; it means growing the right way – on your own terms.
One thing I remind startup founders and CEOs all the time is that you want to preserve optionality for your startup at all times. Whether you decide to raise money, sell, go big, or not – stay in complete control of your inevitable fate with each passing act.
If you choose to bootstrap, raise venture capital, or take a balanced approach, the key is making an intentional decision based on your goals. Operators have many options:
Bootstrapping
Bootstrapping allows for maximum control and forces discipline, but business growth can be slower and cash flow tight. Oftentimes self-funding or bank relationships are in place (debt, lines of credit, loans).
Venture Capital
Venture capital can unlock hypergrowth, but you’re trading equity for speed and accepting pressure to scale, often at all costs. It also creates share classes and new timelines.
Hybrid Approach
A hybrid approach gives you the best of both worlds—selective outside capital (often VC), combined with thoughtful, sustainable growth that doesn’t sacrifice your mission or values
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Choose wisely and know what you’re setting yourself up for.
What matters is understanding the trade-offs and choosing the path that aligns with your vision and business objectives. Pragmatic growth isn’t about sprinting or stalling—it’s about getting there the right way, unlocking the next phase of scaling, and celebrating every milestone along the journey to your relative mountaintop.
