Also, likewise, hundreds of customers will not equal $1M ARR for lots of SaaS companies. Even at 1000 customers, you'd need ~$100/mo or greater subscription price.
For SaaS companies with < $100/mo pricing, the equations and milestones are very different. For example, a $30/mo ARPU means having to get 3x more customers. So suddenly, hundreds of customers are not enough, you need thousands. That can mean the difference between a direct sales or white glove treatment to something slightly higher scale.
A little background. There are really three factors to any investment - risk, return, and liquidity. The more you sacrifice with one, the more you expect from the others. Startup investments are high risk and low liquidity, so they should generate incredible returns when they do succeed.
So no, your angels and VC don't want profitability. They want growth. When you finally achieve a "liquidity event" (selling the company, or IPO), it's getting sold to the people who want profitability, and are willing to sacrifice returns for it. Different investors, different needs.
As a business, if you want control, you eschew investment and instead target profitability and stability. But you're greatly limiting your growth. That's fine, too.
Do you want to be rich, or do you want to be king? If you want to be king, avoid investors and build for stability. If you want to be rich, take the investment and grow as fast as you can.
If you want to stand on the sidelines, that's fine too. But don't laugh and mock business decisions by smart and determined people. Maybe they're trying to solve a problem you don't understand.
