Starting a business is by no means easy - even the most successful entrepreneurs would agree. So what determines if a business thrives and grows, or if it collapses? Some will tell you that it comes down to business models and marketing strategies. Others would argue that poor leadership and management are the leading causes of business failure. The real answer is difficult to predict because every business is different, which makes them impossible to compare.
Instead of looking at the businesses that don’t succeed, we should be focusing on those that do, and the tactics and strategies they’re using to excel. There’s not much value in looking at leading organisations and business giants, especially those that are well-established. This is because over time, business strategies dramatically change, so looking at what worked 20 years ago may not work as well today. The most value comes from paying attention to successful startups, those that have seen impressive growth within the last 10 years or so. Here are lessons from today’s top startups that are worth knowing.
Refy Beauty
Refy Beauty was co-founded by Jess Hunt and Jenna Meek. The pair first launched the brand in 2020, and have since been hugely popular for their minimalistic makeup products that are vegan and cruelty-free. Some of their most successful products include their lip gloss and face primer, which are repurchased and loved by millions of consumers globally. Refy’s strategy has been praised for its honest and transparent approach that has allowed them to build a community of customers who care about the products they buy and use. It's apparent that Refy understands its customer base and is focused on creating products that solve common everyday issues that they face. Another tactic that Refy uses and sees success with is positioning itself as a founder-led brand. Never before had we seen brand owners as the face of their products as well as at the heart of community events and marketing campaigns.
An impressive fact about Refy is that the brand doesn't heavily rely on advertising to promote its brand and products. Instead, they prioritised affordable business advertising, such as user-generated content, to widen their community and customer base.
Harvey AI
Harvey AI is an AI platform specifically for legal workers and professionals. They’re a fairly recent start-up which first launched in 2021. Since then, they’ve been working with some of the top law firms in the US and abroad, providing them with streamlined AI services for everything from contract analysis to legal research. As of early 2026, Harvey was valued at a staggering $11 billion and continues to grow its team and customer base. Their success can be attributed to their growth strategies that target high-value markets over lower-value alternatives. Harvey AI hyperfocused their target audience to attract a very specific audience niche. Once it was able to onboard high-value clients, they quickly established a reputation for premium clientele and the highest quality services. Many of Harvey AI’s customers and partners give it recognition for the comprehensive support and assistance it offers to customers. Beyond selling their services, Harvey AI prioritised offering customers additional services such as training and educational workshops, which helped to boost customer retention rates.
Photoroom
Photoroom is a photo and video editing tool that uses AI to make editing automated and professional. Editing tasks that typically can take several hours can be completed in a matter of minutes. Users can experiment with removing backgrounds, retouching images and batch editing hundreds of photos simultaneously. The startup originated in France but has expanded to other regions of the globe, in Europe and beyond. Photoroom has grown to over 300 million users and sees at least 25 million website visits every month. Their business strategy focuses on product-led growth as they offer a free mobile app that users can try and explore before committing to. Photoroom didn’t need to rely on paid advertising to grow its business. Instead, they found a customer problem and created a product that directly solved it. Another element in their growth strategy was influencer marketing. Photoroom works with hundreds of popular creators on TikTok and Instagram who demonstrate how to use the tool and the results they can achieve with it. Finally, since starting out, Photobooth has adopted a reactive and adaptable growth strategy that started off as a creator-focused app, but has since pivoted into the enterprise and e-commerce sectors.
Reflecting on the strategies and tactics of some of the successful startups today, it's clear to see that there’s no single route to business success. The top-performing businesses find a competitive edge - something that no other competitor has done- and implement it across their entire business and marketing strategies. It's also important for businesses to focus on solving a real customer problem and combining this with a strong value proposition to distinguish themselves successfully.