In studying Europe’s most successful cloud founders for our Cloud Champions 2025 Report, we discovered a fascinating paradox: they embody contradictions. They are creative yet disciplined; confident yet humble; risk-takers who seek structure. This duality—balancing the mundane with the marvellous—separates the exceptional from the every day.

These businesses, representing less than 1% of the companies that raised more than $3m from VCs, are undeniably marvellous in their achievements. All embody creativity, innovation, and the pioneering spirit Jacco describes in his foreword. They are rightly celebrated for their innovation. Yet, when they talk about success, they focus not on brilliance but on discipline, iteration, and foundational principles. As part of the report, we interviewed several leading founders, and I'll refer to their learnings and experience of these 'Cloud Champions' here.

As Matt Welle, CEO of Mews, put it, “You must enjoy the continuous change happening around and to you and revel in the fact that what worked yesterday might not work tomorrow.”

This duality—the interplay between the ordinary and the extraordinary, the mundane and the marvellous—captures the very essence of their journeys. Their success is built on the duality of opposites: humility with exceptionalism, exploration with exploitation, creativity with discipline, openness to input but trusting their guts.

Job van der Voort, CEO of Remote, encapsulated this belief, shared by every founder. “I have learned to trust my gut. If I feel strongly about something, I go with my way, regardless of another’s experience. Every time I didn’t do that in the past, I regretted it.".

The duality of successful SaaS founders: Balance

The harmony between “the mundane and the marvellous” defines these founders' approach. The "necessary but not sufficient" principles they emphasize—continuous learning, customer understanding, and first-principles thinking—enable their businesses to thrive. At the same time, their intellect, insight, and innovation elevate these principles into extraordinary outcomes.

This balance is evident in how they tackle growth:

  • Exploration vs. Exploitation: They understand the need to test new ideas and opportunities while efficiently scaling proven strategies. One without the other leads to stagnation or wasted effort. Their success lies in knowing when to shift focus and recalibrate.
  • Ignorance vs. Knowledge: They embrace the unknown, fostering curiosity and discovery while leveraging their expertise to drive decisions. This balance allows them to remain agile and adaptable.
  • Humility vs. Confidence: Their humility opens them to new ideas and feedback, while their confidence empowers decisive leadership. This interplay builds trust and ensures consistent progress.

The best founders reject playbooks

A defining trait of these founders is their rejection of rigid playbooks and their embrace of first-principles thinking. They distrust conventional wisdom and one-size-fits-all solutions, choosing instead to ground their strategies in fundamental truths tailored to their unique contexts.

This scepticism extends to hiring and advice. They avoid executives who rely on "the way things are done" in large, established companies or rigid frameworks from outside consultants. Instead, they seek people who are adaptable, curious, and capable of growing alongside the company.

Scaling means reinventing

Many founders assume that reaching $10M or even $30M ARR means they’ve “made it.” In reality, every new growth milestone brings fresh complexity. What gets you to $10M won’t get you to $100M.

Christian Owens, founder of Paddle, describes this shift as a process of personal reinvention: “The team you start with may not be the team you need forever. This has been the largest emotional adaptation I've had to make as a founder.” This shift isn’t just operational; it’s deeply personal.

It’s not just about swapping out early hires for more experienced executives. Founders themselves must adapt, shifting from doers to enablers, from warriors, fighting every battle, to organisational architects building the necessary systems and processes for scale—anathema for so many founders. Adaptation—the most Darwinian of traits—is at the core of every journey. The founder must continually evolve, as must their team, to address the ever-changing needs of the business.

Embracing duality

The founders who reach the $100M milestone—and every one of them is intent on scaling well past this point—are those who master the mundane and the marvellous. It’s this duality—this ability to embody seemingly opposing qualities—that defines the very best entrepreneurs.

The lesson for the next generation of cloud champions? Success isn’t about a singular trait or playbook—it’s about navigating contradictions of scale and knowing when to rewrite the rules entirely. The ability to navigate opposing forces is what separates success from failure, and it plays out at every stage of growth.

The best founders aren’t just visionaries or operators—they are both. Their success comes from embracing contradictions, making peace with change, and knowing that every stage demands a different version of themselves and everyone that surrounds them.

Stephen Millard is Operating Partner of Notion Capital.