Different types of business owners want different kinds of return on their investment.
Small business entrepreneurs might be perfectly happy just turning a profit a few years into the venture. In contrast, a stock trader only turns a profit when the business gets more valuable, which requires growth. The business has to make more profit than it did last year. A third place might turn a profit but not provide growth for investors, so they're not going to fund it, they're going to destroy it.
This gets even crazier with private equity, because the fund managers are incentivized[0] to spike growth as quickly as possible. If you ever notice a business rapidly deteriorating, it's because private equity is sucking the blood out of the company. Run.
[0] The split between fund investors and fund management changes once the fund meets its hurdle: an arbitrarily-set amount of profit. After the hurdle is met fund management gets every penny.
Small business entrepreneurs might be perfectly happy just turning a profit a few years into the venture. In contrast, a stock trader only turns a profit when the business gets more valuable, which requires growth. The business has to make more profit than it did last year. A third place might turn a profit but not provide growth for investors, so they're not going to fund it, they're going to destroy it.
This gets even crazier with private equity, because the fund managers are incentivized[0] to spike growth as quickly as possible. If you ever notice a business rapidly deteriorating, it's because private equity is sucking the blood out of the company. Run.
[0] The split between fund investors and fund management changes once the fund meets its hurdle: an arbitrarily-set amount of profit. After the hurdle is met fund management gets every penny.