Essay · Long read (approx. 15 min)

Niche is the Next Big Thing

Rick Zullo (Equal Ventures) · Equal Ventures Free Intermediate

Written by a VC, this makes the case that a small starting market is a strength, not a red flag, which is exactly the reframe you need when you worry your beachhead sounds tiny to investors. It uses Amazon (starting with books) and vertical software to show the dominate-a-niche-then-expand pattern investors actually reward. It is a starting point for the small-now, big-later narrative, from someone on the other side of the table.

• Winning a small market cleanly beats claiming 1 percent of a giant market: investors trust dominance plus a credible path to adjacent markets.
• You pick a niche to survive long enough to get big, then compound advantages and cashflow into expansion.
• Frame the beachhead as chapter one of the vision, not the whole company, so focus and ambition read as one story.