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.

This often overlooked segment of startups have the potential to scale meaningfully and rapidly, though not necessarily to extreme valuations.

We have studied these businesses extensively — they offer great opportunities for entrepreneurs and their employees and can be successful by employing different strategies for funding, hiring, and competing.

The mighty middle deserves closer consideration as it may often offer a lower-risk, higher-return path for founder value capture, as well as more numerous opportunities than venture-scale startups.

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.