How to Catch the Big Fish

Why most startups starve chasing whales — and how to grow by catching smaller fish first.

Every founder dreams of landing the big deal, selling to an enterprise client, partnering with a global brand, or signing the contract that changes everything.

But here’s the hard truth: most startups can’t catch whales, at least not at the beginning.

If your business strategy depends on landing a whale, you’re more likely to starve in your boat. Big companies don’t like working with small, unproven startups. It’s too risky. They want stability, reliability, and track records — and their sales cycles can stretch six, twelve, or even eighteen months. Most early-stage startups simply don’t have that much runway.

So instead of trying to catch whales, you need to start by catching minnows.

When you’re just starting out, take whatever customer you can get. They might not be your dream clients, but they help you learn the fundamentals: how to sell, deliver, and support real customers. Every minnow you catch teaches you something about your market and your own operations.

Once you can consistently catch minnows, move up to trout. They’re a little bigger, a little harder to get, and they’ll pay a bit more. Working with them will help you start to understand what experienced, higher-value customers expect and how to serve them well.

Get good at catching trout, and soon you’ll start catching tuna. They’re your mid-market customers, big enough to make a real difference, but not so big they’ll crush you with process and demands. You can live off tuna for a long time. You can build a strong, sustainable company catching and serving tuna.

Just don’t try to skip straight from minnows to tuna. If you happen to land a big one early, enjoy it. But also notice that it’s probably mostly luck, not skill. You might not even know how you did it, and it might not be repeatable. That’s why you keep fishing for minnows and trout, even after landing your first tuna. They fill the gaps, smooth out cash flow, and keep you learning.

As one of our sales coaches, Mark Phinick, likes to say:

“The skinny bear only eats the big fish. The fat bear eats whatever it can find.”

In the early days, you want to be the fat bear, take every opportunity you can. Catch the small ones, the medium ones, and the big ones when they come. Over time, your boat fills with experience, customer stories, and trusted logos. That’s what earns you the credibility (and cash) to finally go after the sharks and whales.

So here’s the paradox: If you want to catch a whale, start with minnows.