Spectacular fundraisers make many entrepreneurs dream, and it is true that some projects need massive capital to achieve rapid growth goals. However, there is a current of startups which knowingly choose not to raise external funds and which, despite everything, displays very solid economic results. More and more founders decide to bet on profitability, self -financing and a controlled expansion, preferring to keep the control over their strategy rather than delegating part of the decision -making power to investors.
Question the race for capital
The dominant idea is that the fundraising testifies to the success of a startup. It attracts looks, offers substantial financial resources and can accelerate notoriety. However, this race for capital is not always a guarantee of sustainability. The teams that raise millions of euros are often subject to colossal pressure: they must quickly prove the validity of their model, under penalty of seeing their valuation or their credibility collapse.
Entrepreneurs who decide not to raise funds take another step. They seek to focus their efforts on a viable economic model from the first customers. Far from displaying unrealistic objectives of growth with two or three digits, they first aim for financial balance, then work to gradually strengthen their margins. This approach prevents them from switching to a logic where each choice is justified first by the desire to seduce an investor, rather than by the final interest of the customer or the quality of the product.
Budget discipline as an innovation engine
Refusing to raise funds does not mean depriving oneself of innovation or modernity. On the contrary, this imposes a strict budgetary discipline, which can stimulate creativity. With limited means, the team of a young shoot must often find original solutions to transport new customers, optimize their offer and stand out on the market. This pragmatism leads to more thoughtful decisions, where each expense is the subject of a careful analysis. In this logic, priority is given to the customer. Successive adjustments are based on concrete returns rather than investor injunctions requiring artificially the user base. Several French starters bear witness to the fact that they could not have built such a faithful relationship with their community if they had been forced, from the start, to inflate the figures to justify a second round.
Slower growth, but more solid
Startups that finance themselves alone do not always know the meteoric growth that promise spectacular fundraising. Their progression is often more progressive, even more discreet. However, this apparent slowness hides a foolproof solidity. By relying on real income and healthy cash, these companies are better armed to cope with the vagaries of the market or the conjunctures of conjuncture. A striking example in France is that of Lemlist, the e-mailing platform which has long ignored investors’ sirens. Thanks to an original positioning and daring marketing, the company has conquered an international freelance and SME clientele, proud of its authenticity and its proximity. This “organic” expansion is based on customer satisfaction, recommendation and construction of a community. In the end, it is much more durable than an expansion artificially swollen by external capital.
Master your strategy and preserve your vision
Another major asset of self -financing lies in strategic freedom. Entrepreneurs who spare the search for funds retain complete decision -making power. They can adjust their product roadmap, redefine their target or even rotate their project without encountering the reluctance of a focused investor on the short -term return on investment. This flexibility has enabled several French founders to quickly seize opportunities or to rectify their trajectory when a market shows slowdown signals. Without an investor to satisfy, it is easier to make ethical, environmental or social decisions, even if they are not immediately lucrative. Thus, certain startups prefer to limit their carbon impact or to favor local production and this constitutes an argument of appreciable differentiation in the long term.
Promote a corporate culture where the first human on the figures
When a project must constantly prove its growth potential to raise funds, corporate culture can suffer. The disproportionate objectives imposed from the outside increase the pressure on the teams and can lead to a high turnover or to a frantic quest for rapid yields. By refusing fundraising, startups retain the possibility of building an organization where each employee knows the importance of their role and their work in a less stressful atmosphere. Several French leaders evoke their pride of having constituted united teams, passionate about their mission. Recruitments are often done in the long term, with particular care given to the adequacy between the values of the startup and those of the newcomer.
The media continue to highlight the “success stories” associated with major investments. However, an increasing number of young entrepreneurs prefers to be inspired by more discreet successes, based on self -financing and control of costs. This trend could be strengthened in the years to come, especially in a context where caution is gaining ground and where investors become more selective.
