I think the problem with business like this is that there are few of the niches where it can exist sustainably (and thus be worth money). You either eat out small niche quickly, or big players come and eat you for breakfast, or you specialize so deeply that you turn into a consulting company ('job'). So most of the time, you have to be 'pg kind of startup' or go bust (while there are quite a few exceptions). In most markets big enough where a business can exist for a long time you either have to grow fast VC-style, or someone else will do it.