ECONOMY AND FINANCE : CREATING A UNICORN: THE ROADMAP

BY ROBIN GHOSH,

ECONOMIST AND BUSINESS MENTOR

KOLKATA, 11 OCTOBER 2024:

One of the most popular words ranting around in the startup ecosystem is the word ” unicorn”.

In business, an unicorn is a privately held startup company that has a valuation of more than $ 1 billion and is not listed in the stock market.

The term was coined by a venture capitalist Aileen Lee to describe the rarity of such successful startups. Building an unicorn requires a set of unicorn skill sets.

Briefly speaking, the skill buckets we are talking about are:

1 Scooping a high potential opportunity.

2 Curating an unicorn building strategy.

3 Finding out smart capital.

4 Designing and adopting a finance intelligence strategy.

5 Devising a smart control dashboard.

6 Fixing up a team with unicorn skills.

Now, let us talk and discuss each of these points.

Take the first point – scooping a high potential opportunity.

Firstly, you have to identify a high potential business space — the coordinates of which are defined by passion, skills and emerging techno- economic trends.

Example: Zomato, Paytm OYO Rooms, Swiggy.

Now, how do we create a strategy which can help to acquire unicorn status ?

Choose the right product.

Choose the right location.

Choose a niche market.

Offer unique customer delight.

Fix the right distribution network.

Quietly build up your brand.

Select the correct price point.

Next important step is – how to raise capital while retaining ownership and 80% voting rights.

Along with strongly guarding ownership – you have to take off and move with a finance – smart strategy: avoid venture capital and execute smart margin management.

Set up a control dashboard. Avoid Institutional investors.

Don’t raise funds from large angel investors.

Finally, you have to organise a team young enough to work 24×7 and have the agility and cross functional skills.