A friend has described these to me as "dark matter companies". They are everywhere, and they permeate industries, but you never see them. They work in small, unmarked offices outside of the standard tech hubs. Some of these companies make billions, but you've never heard of them, and they'd like to keep it that way.
In other cases, they're small companies that own a market that's too small for a large competitor to go after. $10m/yr will not make VCs happy. But it will certainly pay nicely to a team of 12.
>Hidden champions are relatively small but highly successful companies that are concealed behind a curtain of inconspicuousness, invisibility, and sometimes secrecy.
In other cases, they're small companies that own a market that's too small for a large competitor to go after. $10m/yr will not make VCs happy. But it will certainly pay nicely to a team of 12.