I'm finishing development of the flagship product for my new sole-founder fully-bootstrapped startup in the USA (no outside funding).  I currently have enough knowledge about business, relationships, accounting, etc. to take this startup to an acquisition valuation of around $10MM USD in 5 years.  In other words, I can sit and write down all of the detailed steps that I would execute over the next 5 years in order to make that happen.  I can do that because I have enough knowledge and indirect experience to come up with those steps by thinking really hard.  This knowledge and experience comes from running an ongoing small software engineering consultancy with a revenue of a few million per year.  Actually identifying and then executing the steps for a $10MM valuation will be a challenge for me, but I believe with high confidence I have the capability to do so.But here's the thing:  I think someone else could take the same product and write down the steps to turn it into a $100MM or $250MM acquisition instead of a $10M acquisition.  Same starting point - very different ending.  And I predict, very different steps.ASSUME that it's a successful product that COULD result in a $250MM acquisition.  My problem is three-fold:Problem 0: I'd like to perform the steps necessary for a $250MM acquisition;Problem 1: I don't know (and can't derive by thinking really hard) the steps necessary to make that happen;Problem 2: I don't know the subject areas to study and learn in order to be able to derive the steps for Problem #1.This is a problem of education, not a problem of intelligence or capability.So, I would like to Ask HN:  What specific subjects should I learn that would lead me down the right path?  Which of these subjects should I do a deep-dive, and which should I do a shallow-dive?  Please help me solve problem #2 so that I can solve problem #1 myself, so that I can then execute and solve Problem #0 myself.  (Any non-trivial suggestions for Problem #1 are also welcomed)Also, am I even asking the right questions in this post?  Am I correct to focus on education, or should I focus on something else such as building new kinds of relationships (if so what kind)?  What sorts of questions should I be asking instead of the ones in this post (and what are the answers to those questions)?Thanks in advance to all that reply!