The toughest problems in large enterprises are not solvable by one or two guys. And these are the problems that interest me. Where implementation of OK software can save $100k+ a year, and implementing a good software solution: millions.
They can be solvable by a small team who raise capital, innovate, build a team, win some smaller customers, grow their sales... but by that point they are approaching 100 people and have been around 5 years.
That sort of success is around. I used to work for a company, started in 1996, which was acquired around its 10th birthday. That's exactly what they did - now part of a 20,000ish person company, they are now considered the incumbent (and all of their peers from the late 90's have also been aquired!).
They can be solvable by a small team who raise capital, innovate, build a team, win some smaller customers, grow their sales... but by that point they are approaching 100 people and have been around 5 years.
That sort of success is around. I used to work for a company, started in 1996, which was acquired around its 10th birthday. That's exactly what they did - now part of a 20,000ish person company, they are now considered the incumbent (and all of their peers from the late 90's have also been aquired!).