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It isn't necessary that a Unicorn must create something technically sophisticated and intricate. Airbnb is a service, not a tech product. This is an apples to o
by silentsea90 11y ago
It isn't necessary that a Unicorn must create something technically sophisticated and intricate. Airbnb is a service, not a tech product. This is an apples to oranges comparison.
There are plenty of startups that work on challenging engineering problems (though I'd have to google for the Unicorns who do that).
- kuschku 11y agoThen we should call it "Service Valley" and the people doing this "business men", not "Silicon Valley" and "software engineer". Even comparing the engineering complexity of what Google does, and what Airbnb, Uber, etc do is impossible. Many large unicorns are doing nothing new, or special. They are only clicking existing technology together. Which means they are very easy to outcompete, too.
- silentsea90 11y agoWhether you like it or not, Silicon Valley startups do have a habit of overemphasizing the tech aspects of their companies to get the best talent. It isn't a bad strategy, considering that it makes sure that your business or service isn't susceptible to a technologically superior startup showing up and providing the same services. It is indeed true that there isn't anything groundbreaking about Airbnb or Zenefits (at least technologically). Uber has disrupted the way we travel using technology. Though it isn't as complex as Google, it is still a valid disruption using tech. Well, it isn't always true that unicorns are easy to outcompete. I could argue that Amazon (not AWS) isn't anything special either. The point of a unicorn isn't to develop complex tech. At scale, these companies are hard to beat.