It might be the case that you excel at the "first wave", but are not interested or not talented at the kind of work that needs to be done at a later stage of the company lifecycle. If so, that's nothing to be ashamed of.
edit: i guess what i am arguing is that it isn't a failure if your skills are better suited to one early phase of a business lifecycle. these skills are highly valuable in the right context. if that's the case, it could be win-win-win outcome (for you, your current employer, and your next employer) for you to switch to a different company that is in the phase you are most effective at, if your current employer has sucessfully grown out of that phase.
https://blog.codinghorror.com/commandos-infantry-and-police/
It might be the case that you excel at the "first wave", but are not interested or not talented at the kind of work that needs to be done at a later stage of the company lifecycle. If so, that's nothing to be ashamed of.
edit: i guess what i am arguing is that it isn't a failure if your skills are better suited to one early phase of a business lifecycle. these skills are highly valuable in the right context. if that's the case, it could be win-win-win outcome (for you, your current employer, and your next employer) for you to switch to a different company that is in the phase you are most effective at, if your current employer has sucessfully grown out of that phase.