▲ CLOCK seed → Series A: a median 17 months▲ SIGNAL launch → first outside funding: 16 months▲ REVENUE launch → first public revenue number: 22 months▲ SPREAD the middle half of seed → A: 11 to 28 months▲ ARC the median tracked growth story spans ~4 years▲ DATA dated from the milestones behind our daily teardowns▲ CLOCK seed → Series A: a median 17 months▲ SIGNAL launch → first outside funding: 16 months▲ REVENUE launch → first public revenue number: 22 months▲ SPREAD the middle half of seed → A: 11 to 28 months▲ ARC the median tracked growth story spans ~4 years▲ DATA dated from the milestones behind our daily teardowns

// growth milestones

How long growth actually takes.

Every company we break down comes with a dated timeline: when it launched, when it raised, when it first put a revenue number in public. We parsed those milestones across the 290+ growing companies in the set and measured the gaps. Not the pitch-deck version, the clock. Half of the companies that went from seed to a Series A did it in 18 mo or less. Here is the whole spread, and the companies behind every point.

18mo
seed → Series A
median across 55 companies that made the jump
14mo
launch → first funding
n=75, from first launch on record
22mo
launch → first revenue number
n=79 public disclosures
3.7 yr
median tracked arc
285 companies, first to last milestone
Section A · the venture clock

Seed to Series A takes a median of 18 mo

For every company in the set that raised a seed and later a Series A, this is the gap between them. The middle half land between 12 and 30 months, but the tail is long: some step up inside a year, others grind for four. The distribution is real, dated, and every company is named below so you can check the work.

1400–6 mo: 5 companies50–6 mo7–12 mo: 13 companies137–12 mo13–18 mo: 11 companies1113–18 mo19–24 mo: 6 companies619–24 mo25–36 mo: 14 companies1425–36 mo37 mo+: 6 companies637 mo+

n = 55 companies with a dated seed and Series A on record · median 18 mo · interquartile range 12–30 months

Every company in that chart, longest gap first:

Porter67 moPassionfroot55 moTower 28 Beauty51 moOpenObserve47 moFlagright47 moConsensus37 moFathom36 momisen36 moAdaptive35 moActively34 moNative Pet33 moTailor32 moGizmo31 moAct+Acre30 moCrown Affair30 moMotion28 moCaraway28 moGoodles27 moFleetWorks25 moGymkhana Fine Foods25 moWilde24 moDreamdata24 moTwelveLabs24 moKestra21 moDescript21 moComposio21 moimmi Ramen18 moTana18 moGranola17 moHiggsfield17 moLiquid Death17 moAlta16 moBeam16 moRime14 moGarage14 moOpenHands14 moLinear13 mon8n12 moTopicals12 moTavus12 moMyDesignation12 moGoodShip11 moPermitFlow9 moScotch9 moMomentous9 moOrbio9 moDavid Protein9 molunchbox9 moGenspark8 moPerelel7 moAffiniti6 moGumloop6 moTolan5 moPhia4 moZyG2 mo
Section B · the gaps that matter

The typical range behind three key moves

A median hides the spread. Each bar below runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, with the median marked, so you can see the honest window, not a single tidy number. All three are measured from the first such milestone a company has on record.

Seed → Series A · n=55median 18 mo
12
18
30
Launch → first outside funding · n=75median 14 mo
7
14
24
Launch → first public revenue number · n=79median 22 mo
9
22
33
010203040 mo

Each bar spans the interquartile range (25th–75th percentile); the marked point is the median. Scale in months.

Section C · the anatomy

What a growth story is actually made of

Sort every one of the 1,728 milestones on record by what it is. Funding rounds, product launches, and revenue disclosures each account for roughly a fifth. The moments founders obsess over, a viral hit or a retail deal, are the rare exceptions, not the engine.

Other26.9%
Revenue milestone20.7%
Launch / product20.5%
Funding round18.5%
Media / viral moment6.7%
Audience / traction4.2%
Retail / distribution2.5%

1,728 milestones across 290+companies, each counted once by its primary type. “Other” = acquisitions, valuations, partnerships, team and expansion notes.

Method: every milestone is a dated row in a company's growth timeline, extracted from the evidence behind its teardown. Periods are parsed to a month; where only a year is given we anchor to mid-year, so a single gap can carry a few months of slack, which medians over dozens of companies absorb. Milestone type is classified by keyword, and each duration reports its own sample size. A timeline is a curated record, not a company's complete history, so every gap is measured from the first such milestone on record, not necessarily the first ever. Figures update automatically as new teardowns publish. Explore the rest of the numbers at /data.

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