Do you want to build a successful startup or open a business ? This is a common thought for almost everyone. However, few people understand how to achieve this imaginary status of a successful entrepreneur.
In this article, we’ll talk about the more advanced stage of every successful startup, called the unicorn . Also, we’ll take a look at one thing that 64% of them have in common. If you have never heard about this or just want to know more about it, keep reading!
What is Unicorn Status?
To begin, we need to understand what "unicorn status" means. Unicorns are start-ups that have reached a private valuation of $1 billion. The name comes from how difficult it is to obtain such a valuation. As we know, it’s also pretty difficult to see a unicorn in real life.
To truly understand how hard it is to reach unicorn **status, I’ll give you several statistical examples. Less than **0.00006% of every startup in the world becomes a unicorn. Well, at least it’s not impossible!
Seriously, creating a startup that is worth more than $1 billion is incredibly challenging. There’re several parts to building a unicorn, including the fundraising process, a good team, and other crucial stages of development!
It also takes 7 years on average to achieve this. However, it’s only average. As you can see below, I’ve found a great model that shows us how many years the most successful unicorns took to develop. It also shows how many billions they have right now!
Stages of Startup Developing
Before reaching the status of a unicorn, every startup needs to pass several stages of development. For instance: pre-seed, seed, series A, series B, and series C. Each of these stages is distinct and valuable in its own right.
In reality, not every startup reaches at least the **Seed **phase (up to $250,000). Below, you can see the table that illustrates the differences between each stage and the monetary valuation for each of them.
As you can see, unicorns usually belong to Series A.
Too late, too early, or just right?
Alright, now you know what unicorn status is and the other stages of a startup. Now it’s time to talk about one thing that 64% of unicorns have in common. In one word, it’s — Timing .
That’s right, not fundraising, not a qualified team, and not even the business model. The most crucial thing that most successful unicorns have is great timing. I’ll try to explain to you what that means.
Before YouTube , there were lots of similar services. However, none of them have reached the same level. YouTube was at the right place at the right time. In other words, it was founded at a time when it was needed. Then, in less than a year, Google bought it for more than $1.65 billion , and now it's around $180 billion .
You can also take a look at crypto projects or at others that are related to new technologies. All of them are relevant only in a growing market or when we see a trend. Projects are being created in the bear market but growing in the bull market.
For example, you can take a look at NFT . I have nothing to do with it; furthermore, I have my own collection and have dove deep into this sphere. However, while the whole crypto market is going down, it is literally impossible for NFT projects to grow.
That’s why timing is one of the most important parts of any successful startup. Take a look at any billion-dollar startup, and you'll notice that the majority of them were founded at the best possible time .
If your startup launches too soon, you might not see the traction you were hoping for. If it enters the market too late, it will have to compete with established players and overcome entry barriers. That’s pretty simple, but almost nobody understands it!
You can also look at the timing as luck. The funny thing is that it really is. However, fortune smiles on those who make any effort to achieve it. In other words, you need to do everything right so you’ll have more chances to win, and timing is the most important part of this process!
Below, you can see an illustration that shows how much each of these parts contributes to the success of the startup. In other words, you can see the importance of each part of development. As you can see, timing is crucial and dominates most unicorns.
You can also see that funding is in the very last place and almost never matters. That’s right, many of the biggest corporations were founded without any budget or fundraising; it was just an idea and great timing .
The qualified team and business model are also important, but they do not have as much of an impact on the final result.
It Can Also Be Seen as a Speed
Timing can be understood in many ways. The first and most popular one we’ve already discovered — timing as a time frame of founding . However, it can also be seen as the speed of development.
You need to understand that nobody will wait until you finish your project. Even if you believe you have a brilliant idea , chances are that someone else somewhere in the world does as well. So you need to hurry up, or he will grow up faster.
I even heard about doing the "startup a month" challenge. Of course, these are not particularly complex or difficult startups, but they are still worth noticing. It usually works if you want to diversify the power of your team and work on several projects at the same time. It also increases your chances of winning because you can’t be sure about the success of the startup!
It Also Works In Everyday Life
So now you understand why timing is the most important aspect of any successful startup, particularly unicorns . However, the importance of timing can also be seen in everyday life, and I’ll give you several examples.
Imagine that you’ve moved to a new city and immediately met someone who will change your entire life. As we discussed previously, it’s a kind of fortune or luck , but it is still related to timing. If you moved to that city in a year, you probably wouldn’t meet that person.
If Steve Jobs hadn't met Steve Wozniak , they wouldn’t have formed the world's biggest company for now and revolutionized the whole world. Every opportunity that you see coming your way is a result of great timing. Every person that you've met is the result of great timing. And every product that succeeds is a product of great timing!
Also, imagine a situation where you’ve discovered something absolutely amazing that will restructure your mind. This thing can be seen on your Medium main page, and if you didn't read about it, you would be the same. This small chance to see something valuable can change the whole direction of your future. It’s called the effect of a butterfly!
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to say to you that working doesn’t stop if you don’t see opportunities right now. As I said, the greatest crypto projects are founded during a period of a crashing market. Always remember to grow yourself and your business, and someday, you’ll definitely achieve everything you ever wanted!
This article was made with the help of Heorhi Talochka who is also writing on the topic of entrepreneurship and has analyzed the whole topic about which we were talking in the article. Follow him and learn more about startups !
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