I’ve always been fascinated by lottery winners. Not just because they hit the jackpot, but because of what happens next. Studies repeatedly show that many winners, despite their sudden wealth, often return to their baseline happiness levels within months. Some even report feeling worse. Why? Because money, for all its utility, doesn’t fill the void of purpose.
This same principle applies to business, especially in the SaaS and IT sectors. A sudden injection of cash—whether from a lottery win or a massive VC investment—doesn’t inherently solve problems or guarantee long-term success. The real question is: what do you do with it?
The Lottery Winner Who Kept Working
Take the example of a UK man who won millions but chose to keep his job as a garbage collector. For him, the job was about more than money. It gave him structure, purpose, and a sense of contribution. Compare this with other winners who quit their jobs immediately. Many of them struggled with depression, a loss of routine, and even financial ruin.
This story offers a clear business parallel. When a SaaS company secures significant VC funding, the instinct might be to “quit the grind”—massively scale up, expand into new markets, or over-hire. But without a clear purpose or strategy, these efforts often crumble. A sudden influx of resources can magnify inefficiencies instead of solving them.
Purpose Drives Growth, Not Money
In SaaS, cash alone doesn’t scale a business; optimizing processes and finding product-market fit do. Here’s an example. In 2020, a SaaS startup received a $50M Series B round to expand its CRM platform. Flush with cash, the founders hired aggressively and launched in several international markets within months. What they didn’t do was refine their onboarding flow, which already had high drop-off rates. Six months later, churn had skyrocketed.
Compare this with another SaaS company in a similar situation. Instead of sprinting toward expansion, they spent their new funding revisiting core processes. They doubled down on UX testing and automated customer support workflows. Growth wasn’t flashy, but it was sustainable. A year later, they had doubled their ARR and halved churn.
The Brain Adapts—So Must Your Business
Lottery studies show how the brain quickly adapts to new levels of wealth. The same is true for SaaS businesses. After the initial euphoria of a VC round, teams often hit a plateau. If processes and systems aren’t built to scale, the business stagnates—or worse, collapses under its own weight.
Let’s talk about scaling workflows. A SaaS tool for remote project management saw an 80% uptick in users after a successful funding round. But with growth came bottlenecks. Support tickets tripled, and the team was overwhelmed. Instead of throwing money at the problem with more hires, they integrated an AI-driven ticket prioritization system. The result? Resolution times improved by 60%, and customer satisfaction scores rebounded.
Lessons from the Lottery
The core takeaway from lottery winners applies equally to SaaS founders: Money amplifies, but it doesn’t fix. It’s the systems, routines, and purpose behind the scenes that matter.
1. Revisit Your Purpose: Why does your product exist? For lottery winners, staying grounded often means reconnecting with what made them happy before. For SaaS businesses, this might mean refining your value proposition and ensuring you’re solving the right problems for your customers.
2. Optimize Before Scaling: Just like some winners who lose everything by overspending, businesses that scale prematurely often burn out. Focus on making existing processes efficient before pouring money into growth.
3. Automate for Efficiency: Whether it’s automating support, marketing, or onboarding, systems that scale with growth are critical. Invest in tools that allow your team to focus on high-value tasks.
4. Measure Success Beyond Revenue: Lottery winners often struggle because they lack a new purpose. Similarly, a SaaS company that only tracks revenue misses the bigger picture. Look at retention, user satisfaction, and employee engagement as key metrics.
The VC Lottery: A Double-Edged Sword
Winning the VC lottery is a dream for many SaaS founders, but it’s also a moment of reckoning. A $10M Series A or $100M Series C won’t magically solve underlying inefficiencies or lack of market fit. Instead, it magnifies both strengths and weaknesses.
The key is to approach funding as a tool, not a solution. Just as purpose sustains lottery winners who thrive, clarity and discipline sustain businesses that last.
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