We need a middle class for startups
What this guy doesn't seem to grasp about the Mittelstand is that those companies are ones that traditionally <i>don't</i> get acquired. They're usually generational family-owned businesses. They're the legacy of the lean bootstrapped startups he contrasts them with except they didn't aim for growth and acquisition but sustainability. Getting acquired is antithetical to being a Mittelstand business because acquired Mittelstand businesses stop being Mittelstand. The "exit" for Mittelstand business founders is death and inheritance.<p>The reason there's no "middle class for startups" is that both sets of startups he describes are growth-oriented investment/acquisition-seeking ventures, not sustainable businesses. You either get fast tracked by finding an investor or you have to take the long route and try to become profitable, but the end goal is to either get bought out (and die) or to go public (and become large enough to buy the competition).<p>Investors along the way buy you out piece by piece betting on you successfully reaching either of those two outcomes. Since investors are in it for big ROI they're willing to take some risks and overfund hopeful "unicorns" while underfunding startups that can't credibly promise (or don't aim for) that kind of ROI. Basically, the groups he describes are self-selecting. If you start bootstrapped as a growth-oriented startup either you wither and die or you grow successful enough to get acquired (and die) or get overfunded (and become part of the latter group). If you start overfunded either you overexert yourself (and die) or get acquired (and die) or continue growing bigger (or go public, leaving the VC bubble). Any "middle class" in between the two can only either be a transitional step from bootstrapped to overfunded (or from overfunded to bankrupt) or a consequence of low ROI expectations.<p>I'm not saying this middle class can't exist, but it can't be a growth-oriented startup and thus is only tangentially related to the kind of companies VCs think about. Another Siemens, Miele or Aldi isn't attractive to VCs because sustainable businesses aren't high enough ROI.