Understanding the 37 most valuable private startups

and what that means for job seekers

$1.5 trillion—that’s the total value of the 37 most valuable private startups. Unlike just 2–3 years ago, the list is now filled with AI-native startups, with 2 of the top 3 most valuable private companies being AI firms (OpenAI, xAI).

AI is clearly rewriting many of the traditional startup rules—especially when it comes to valuations and revenue multiples. Much of the current value is tied to sky-high expectations of future revenue, and when combined with intense competition among investors, this has led to revenue multiples reaching as high as 600x (compared to an average public SaaS multiple of 7x).

If you are thinking about joining a company (or considering starting one), it’s often helpful to understand startup valuations. It’s useful for valuing your private stock, understanding what types of companies to join, and overall getting a sense of the market.

In this essay, we worked with Palle Broe to take a closer look at private startup valuations: What are revenue multiples? What is happening in the ecosystem? How does this impact my job-search? All that and more with some detailed graphs by the end of the article.

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So what do high valuations and high revenue multiples mean for job seekers?

While valuations and revenue multiples are often the concerns of founders and investors - employees and job seekers should also pay attention to these.

Startups with high revenue multiples

If a company has a “high” revenue multiple, it’s typically because investors expect it to grow revenue—and often profits—faster than its peers and sustain that growth long enough to dominate its market.

Startups with high revenue multiples and fast growth often attract top talent, giving you the chance to learn from the best peers and leadership (think PayPal, Uber, Stripe, OpenAI). You’ll build a strong network, grow your career quickly through more responsibility, and if the company does well, you’ll have a powerful brand on your résumé for future opportunities.

What is considered a high revenue multiple?

• Between 40 - 200+ revenue multiple

• Examples of high-revenue companies: OpenAI, Perplexity, Anthropic

Startups with low revenue multiples

If a company has a lower revenue multiple the expectations for future growth is limited. These companies may be stable but are seen as less likely to scale dramatically.

Joining a company with a low revenue multiple can offer strong upside if the business grows and the market adjusts its valuation, boosting the value of your equity. It can also signal a more conservatively valued, less hyped company with solid fundamentals or a clear path to profitability.

What is considered low?

• Between 5 - 15 revenue multiple

• Example companies: Canva, Navan, Databricks

What company should you join?

• A company with a high valuation and a high revenue multiple is expected to grow quickly. If growth slows but the multiple stays high, it may signal the company isn't meeting expectations and its valuation could stagnate or drop.

• If the revenue multiple is above 200 you should carefully analyze the business to understand why the company has such a high valuation relative to their revenue and whether or not it is justified. If you are receiving equity compensation at a very high revenue multiple you need to believe that the company will continue to grow at a very fast rate.

• If a company has a low revenue multiple, look for those still showing strong growth—these can offer significant upside if the market hasn't yet priced in their potential.

Conclusion

Ideally, you want to join a company with strong growth potential and a low revenue multiple. This is often where you get the best risk/reward as a job seeker. To do that, aim to join just as the company enters its breakout phase—when traction is picking up but the valuation is still low. It is not easy to time this and the general advice is to always aim to join a company with strong traction and momentum. Even if the valuation might be high - you are likely to work with very talented people.

Now let's have a look at the startups and their revenue multiples

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Most valuable Startups

A few observations from the list:

1. Companies staying private longer: More companies are staying private longer — raising bigger rounds, growing massive user bases, and delaying IPOs. As a result, the private market has become home to companies once considered “public-scale.”. Companies like SpaceX, OpenAI, xAI and Stripe are all close to or above $100B in valuation.

2. AI domination: If you had looked at this list but 5 years ago none of the large AI native companies would be here. Now they are dominating the list and this trend is likely to only increase over the next few years.

3. US leading the pack: Unsurprisingly the US is leading the list with 32 out of 37 companies having been founded in the US.

Highest Revenue Multiples

The chart below shows how some of the world’s most valuable private companies stack up on one simple metric: Revenue multiple. While revenue tells us how much money a company is currently making, the multiple tells us how much investors believe in its future.

• AI is king: Companies like Waymo (600x), OpenAI (70x), Anthropic (44x), and Perplexity (90x) are commanding sky-high multiples. Investors are betting big on the future of artificial intelligence — even when current revenue is modest.

• Not all revenue is valued equally: Stripe has $5B in revenue but a 18x multiple. Fanatics makes over $8B but trades at just 4x. Meanwhile, Waymo — with only $75M in revenue — is valued at a stunning 600x.

• Private vs Public benchmarks: More than 90% of the companies on the list have a higher revenue multiple than the average 7x we are seeing for SaaS companies in the current market. Valuations in the private market are likely still inflated vs what they would trade for.

For more from Palle, check out his newsletter, Rule of Thumb, where he provides tangible pricing advice to operators, and follow him on LinkedIn.