2010s - Consumer vs. Enterprise Startups

Which makes more money - consumer or enterprise startups? Sapphire Ventures put together an interesting report looking at trends over the last decade. Here are the takeaways:

• Since 1995, VC-backed enterprise tech companies have generated $884B in value vs. $773B in value for consumer tech companies
• Enterprise is driven by ‘cohorts of exits’ while consumer is driven by large, individual exits
• Consumer outliers like Facebook, Uber, or Snap can account for more than the sum of enterprise exits in any given year
• While consumer deals have generated more IPO value in the last decade, enterprise accounts for two-thirds of $1B+ M&A outcomes
• Overall, big opportunity for significant returns in consumer, but entrepreneurs are more likely to build unicorns in enterprise tech

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