Founders often feel guilty about raising prices. Reframe this: sustainable profit margins are what allow your business to survive and continue serving customers. Without profitability, the business fails and everyone loses. It's a matter of ensuring longevity, not greed.

Counter to the 2021 venture climate of growth-at-all-costs, Sure operated with a private equity-like discipline. They raised a $100M Series C when they were already profitable and hadn't spent any of their Series B funds. This capital efficiency provided the freedom to control their own destiny and make long-term decisions.

By ensuring customers pay back their acquisition cost quickly, you eliminate cash as a growth bottleneck. This self-sufficiency means you aren't forced to take loans or investment prematurely, allowing you to negotiate from a position of strength and on your own terms if and when you decide to raise capital.

Unlike other tech verticals, fintech platforms cannot claim neutrality and abdicate responsibility for risk. Providing robust consumer protections, like the chargeback process for credit cards, is essential for building the user trust required for mass adoption. Without that trust, there is no incentive for consumers to use the product.

When airlines select an IT provider for their central nervous system, the provider's financial stability is paramount. Amadeus's strong balance sheet is a competitive weapon against more levered peers, as customers cannot risk their core operations on a financially unstable partner.

While fast-moving, unregulated competitors like FTX garner hype, a deliberate, compliance-first approach builds a more resilient and defensible business in sectors like finance. This unsexy path is the key to building a lasting, mainstream company with a strong regulatory moat.

Contrary to a popular trend among Indian FinTechs, simply adding a lending product is not a surefire way to make money. PhonePe's CTO warns that lending is an extremely difficult business to get right and is globally known for causing startups to fail.

The industry glorifies aggressive revenue growth, but scaling an unprofitable model is a trap. If a business isn't profitable at $1 million, it will only amplify its losses at $5 million. Sustainable growth requires a strong financial foundation and a focus on the bottom line, not just the top.

For sole owner Peter Daring, the purpose of profit isn't endless expansion but creating a buffer for stability and peace of mind. After meeting his personal financial needs, he prioritizes running a sustainable business where he and his team can feel secure, rather than chasing maximum returns for external stakeholders.