Re:Startup Playbook
by amelius on Thursday November 05, 2015 @03:44PM
(#10515988)
I think what this essay overlooked is that the choice between a "low-risk but small business path" and a "high-risk unicorn path" is not always merely about business-choices and cornering markets simply by using large sums of money. A different "high-risk unicorn path" is going through hard scientific research, which often requires external money to get anything from the ground. And it is this last type of business that, imho, deserves our respect most. But otherwise I agree with that article.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
I think "unicorn" is strictly reserved for the Ubers and the AirBNBs of the world. Anyone who calls the company that gets fusion energy working a "unicorn" will probably be laughed out of the room.
It seems like Aileen Lee was one of the first people to popularize unicorns. in his article around 2013[0] he defines them as
> We found 39 companies belong to what we call the “Unicorn Club” (by our definition, U.S.-based software companies started since 2003 and valued at over $1 billion by public or private market investors). That’s about .07 percent of venture-backed consumer and enterprise software startups.
That being said, the term is now almost a pejorative moniker for overpriced vaporware or at least "proof of the bubble". or something. Still though, a fusion company would be the rare breakthrough on a big idea that would warrant such a moniker. Unicorns missed the ark during the great flood, so at IPO time we'll see if tgey go extinct or evolve into narwhals.
0 http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/02/welcome-to-the-unicorn-club...
Re:Startup Playbook
by goodJobWalrus on Thursday November 05, 2015 @09:31PM
(#10517533)
>in his article around 2013[0] he defines them
Aileen is a woman.