The timeline to build a massive company has collapsed for AI-native startups. What historically took a decade now takes 2-3 years. This changes everything—for founders, investors, and competitors.
The historical benchmark for exceptional SaaS companies was 7-10 years to reach $100M ARR. AI-native companies are hitting $1 billion—ten times that milestone—in 2-3 years.
A Phase Change
This isn’t incremental improvement. It’s a phase change in the physics of company building.
For investors: Patience has been recalibrated. A traditional SaaS company projecting 7 years to meaningful scale now looks slow—even if that would have been considered fast three years ago.
For founders: First-mover windows have compressed from years to months. Categories open 18 months ago are now saturated.
As economies of scalethinking suggests, speed itself has become a competitive advantage that compounds over time.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
