Consider, for example, the conventional wisdom that businesses must grow or die. That’s no doubt true for most public companies and venture-backed tech start-ups. Steady increases in sales, profits, market share, and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) are demanded and expected by investors, while decreases—or stagnation—send them running to the exits. But there are thousands of private companies that don’t grow much, if at all, and they don’t die either. On the contrary, they’re often quite healthy.