Most businesses don’t stay small by choice. Growth is the point. The question is how you get there without breaking what already works.
Traditional private equity has a default answer. Buy earnings. Stack companies. Integrate fast. Sell bigger. Sometimes it works. Often it doesn’t. The data on failed integrations is sobering, but founders don’t need studies to feel the risk. Writing large checks for businesses you did not build, do not fully understand, and then forcing alignment under time pressure is a high stakes bet.
There is another path. Build without buying.
In our work, the strongest companies already have loyal customers, pricing power, and a clear core. Growth starts by protecting that core, not distracting it. From there, the work becomes practical and honest. Where are we today. What resources do we actually have. What return justifies the effort and risk.
That lens changes behavior. Instead of chasing acquisitions, teams invest in capacity, process, talent, and systems that compound over time. They refine pricing. They deepen offerings customers already trust. They solve adjacent problems that have been sitting in plain sight. Progress is measured in durability, not just speed.
This is where permanent capital matters. When you are not forced to sell on a fixed clock, you can make investments that take years to mature but fundamentally change trajectory. You can accept short term margin pressure in exchange for long term strength. You can choose fewer initiatives and execute them well.
That is the posture behind Third Salt Venture Fund. Preservation first. Operator led. Asset backed. Growth that is earned, not stitched together. We are not opposed to acquisitions. We are opposed to default answers. The goal is not to get bigger fast. The goal is to build something that lasts.