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If it was possible to beat silicon valley competitors we'd see a lot more unicorns outside silicon valley. You certainly can hide but you can't run ;-)

by jandom 3y ago

dontupvoteme 3y ago
Most unicorn value is predicated upon the petrodollar/US Power and influence.
jvanderbot 3y ago
Actually, this is indicative of the SV mindset where "biggest wins". I hope that's not the case for many businesses, and there are plenty where "successful" means having sustainable income growth, and "win" means "being the obvious choice in your niche".
codingdave 3y ago
"Unicorn" is a term meaning a billion dollar valuation, without being listed as a stock. If I go spend a billion dollars on a company it is a unicorn, even if has zero success or sustainability. So of course there are fewer unicorns outside of SV. The entire concept of a unicorn is tightly coupled to VC dollars.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  Do you even have to spend $1B? If you spend $100M for 10% or $10M for 1% of the company will get you to “unicorn” status, technically.
  - codingdave 3y ago
    Lets go all the way then - if I spend one dollar on one billionth of a company, it is a unicorn. OK, someone go launch UaaS - Unicorn as a Service: I'll buy a billionth of any company for a dolla, and you get to claim to be the latest unicorn!
    - rmbyrro 3y ago
      Convincing someone to pay $100 million for 10% of a business is quite a feat. Not for average joes.
      - codingdave 3y ago
        Yeah, sorry if my jest wasn't clearly jesting. I'm actually not overly concerned with successful VC-backed companies, I'm just pointing out that the term "unicorn" is fairly contrived.
_fat_santa 3y ago
> a lot more unicorns outside silicon valley The problem I see is that the massive funding available to "SV Startups" often skews what a success really is. Say you have a startup that's received several rounds of funding and based on those rounds it's now valued at $1B+, what is that valuation really worth if you're burning cash so fast you're only 1 or 2 failed rounds away from bankruptcy. Sure it's nice to be able to say "we have a 1 billion dollar company" but what is that worth if the valuation only holds if investors keep pouring cash into it? IMHO a company that is worth $100M and can stand on it's own feet without constant infusions of cash is inherently more valuable than a company "worth" $1B but needs to make every funding round to keep the lights on.

If it was possible to beat silicon valley competitors we'd see a lot more unicorns outside silicon valley. You certainly can hide but you can't run ;-)

by jandom 3y ago

If it was possible to beat silicon valley competitors we'd see a lot more unicorns outside silicon valley. You certainly can hide but you can't run ;-)

dontupvoteme 3y ago

Most unicorn value is predicated upon the petrodollar/US Power and influence.

jvanderbot 3y ago

Actually, this is indicative of the SV mindset where "biggest wins". I hope that's not the case for many businesses, and there are plenty where "successful" means having sustainable income growth, and "win" means "being the obvious choice in your niche".

codingdave 3y ago

"Unicorn" is a term meaning a billion dollar valuation, without being listed as a stock. If I go spend a billion dollars on a company it is a unicorn, even if has zero success or sustainability. So of course there are fewer unicorns outside of SV. The entire concept of a unicorn is tightly coupled to VC dollars.

lotsofpulp 3y ago
Do you even have to spend $1B? If you spend $100M for 10% or $10M for 1% of the company will get you to “unicorn” status, technically.
- codingdave 3y ago
  Lets go all the way then - if I spend one dollar on one billionth of a company, it is a unicorn. OK, someone go launch UaaS - Unicorn as a Service: I'll buy a billionth of any company for a dolla, and you get to claim to be the latest unicorn!
  - rmbyrro 3y ago
    Convincing someone to pay $100 million for 10% of a business is quite a feat. Not for average joes.
    - codingdave 3y ago
      Yeah, sorry if my jest wasn't clearly jesting. I'm actually not overly concerned with successful VC-backed companies, I'm just pointing out that the term "unicorn" is fairly contrived.

_fat_santa 3y ago

> a lot more unicorns outside silicon valley The problem I see is that the massive funding available to "SV Startups" often skews what a success really is. Say you have a startup that's received several rounds of funding and based on those rounds it's now valued at $1B+, what is that valuation really worth if you're burning cash so fast you're only 1 or 2 failed rounds away from bankruptcy. Sure it's nice to be able to say "we have a 1 billion dollar company" but what is that worth if the valuation only holds if investors keep pouring cash into it? IMHO a company that is worth $100M and can stand on it's own feet without constant infusions of cash is inherently more valuable than a company "worth" $1B but needs to make every funding round to keep the lights on.