When hunting for your next business venture, don’t bring a sling shot…don’t even bring a deer rifle or a shotgun. What you need for the “hunt” is a unicorn rifle!
In the world of business, the unicorn is that most treasured bounty of a company that has a market valuation in excess of $1 billion dollars before an IPO. Venture Capitalist Aileen Lee first used the term in 2013 as a way of capturing just how rare it is for a startup to reach a billion dollar market valuation before going public.
Although generally thought of in the technology space, a unicorn can spring from any industry. Also, if your company is based in Canada, then the correct term for unicorn is actually a narwhal.
If your visions are bigger than a mere unicorn, there are, of course, other mythical creatures that might catch your fancy:
- Decacorn: companies with a pre-IPO valuation of over $10 billion dollars
- Hectocorn: companies with a pre-IPO valuation of over $100 billion dollars; this creature is so rare that there has only been one hectocorn in history….Facebook.
Inc. Magazine estimated that there are 193 unicorns roaming the streets of the United States as of April, 2017. Think Uber, Dropbox, Pinterest, and Airbnb. Snap, Inc., formerly known as Snapchat, is a recent decacorn that went public in March of 2017.
So, as you dream of your next big business venture, don’t be afraid to dream big and let your mind wander to those mythical creatures. But, remember, a simple pony galloping through green pastures can still be lucrative!!