What is a unicorn? It is definitely not the fairy-tale rainbow horse with a horn on its head. In the business world, unicorns are private companies with a market cap of USD1billion or more.

According to CB insights, they analysed that in January 2019, there are 306 unicorns in the world, a total cumulative valuation of more than USD1trillion!

I studied the fundamentals that these unicorns built their businesses on and I will share them with you in this article.

1. Team/Partner

 

As the famous African proverbs says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”.

Having the right team is essential but not easily achievable. You need to learn to discern the people you want to work with and tap onto their valuable skillsets that will help your organisation.

These famous billion dollars companies have a great team or individuals that helped their business achieve success today:

  • Alibaba
    • Jack Ma founded Alibaba with 17 co-founders: Joseph Tsai, Eddie Wu, Cathy Zhang, and Lucy Peng.
  • Google
    • Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin with a team of experts building the company.
  • Apple
    • Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
  • Razer
    • Razer was founded by Tan Min Liang and Robert Krakoff.
  • Tencent
    • Tencent was founded by Ma Huateng and Tony Zhang. Tony is the CTO of the organisation and the second largest shareholder.
  • Grab
    • Grab was founded by Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling. They are now South-east Asia’s largest ride-hailing platform.
  • Tokopedia
    • Tokopedia was founded by William Tanuwijaya and Leon Edison. They are Indonesia’s largest online marketplace and is valued at USD7billion today.

2. Platform Business Model

All the unicorn companies mentioned above have one thing in common, they operate on a platform business model.

There is no risk involved in a platform business, the inventory does not belong to the platform owner but to the seller. The business operates on a matching demand to supply or buyer to seller operative.

3. Terrain

According to chapter 10 of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, terrain is the most important element in any battle. Similarly, terrain is absolutely important for businesses.

Personally, I feel that Asia and South-east Asia is the most exciting terrain for business. It includes the region countries of Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei and Myanmar.

Two important facts about South-east Asia:

  • SEA is the 4th largest population in the world at 645 million.
  • SEA is the 6th largest economy in the world at USD2.6 trillion.

Economist has tipped SEA to be the world’s 4th largest economy by 2030.

Are you still unconvinced that SEA will be the upcoming market?

  • Bain and Company states that 10 unicorns have established in SEA since 2012 with a total valuation of USD34 billion, putting SEA 3rd inf APAC region behind China and India.
  • Singapore Business Review states that there will be 10 more unicorns in SEA by 2024.

What are you waiting for? Start your unicorn business today!

To your success,

Mario

 

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