It&#x27;s important to note that the numbers discussed by the New York Times were only of VC-funded tech companies founded this century.  There are at least a few thousand private companies in the US worth 1 billion or more.  Forbes keeps track of a few hundred here <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.forbes.com&#x2F;largest-private-companies&#x2F;list&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.forbes.com&#x2F;largest-private-companies&#x2F;list&#x2F;</a> with the lowest on the list having over 2 billion in revenue.<p>It&#x27;s nearly impossible to start a company and have it worth a billion dollars within a decade.  But if you drop the get rich quick thinking of Silicon Valley, it&#x27;s much more possible if you grow slow and steady over a few decades or generations even.  My family has a business started 30 years ago that&#x27;s now worth in the hundreds of millions for example, and we are ecstatic if it grows 15% per year.  In the next 20 years, if we don&#x27;t fail, we should have a billion dollar business.  We don&#x27;t take excessive risk, so there&#x27;s a fairly good shot.  It&#x27;s a bank in the South FWIW.