Speed is the denominator that any progress or success is measured against. More progress in less time is a better thing. Another way of thinking about it is: what company would you rather invest in, one that hit $1M in annual revenues in 1 year, or one that hit $1M in annual revenues in 5 years?

The former implies there's a lot more opportunity still to come, the latter suggests a small market, a mediocre product, or a team that isn't good at selling.