Mahi Sall, Advisor, Fintech-Bank Partnerships, Payments and Financial Inclusivity
January 25th, 2023
Mahi Sall is the CEO & Founder of FinXpair, a Berlin-based strategic advisory boutique firm focu[...]
Are you a Pig, Gazelle or Bear? Beyond Unicorns, Zoology of startups
Sifted | Maija Palmer | Aug 18, 2021
We all know about unicorns, the term for a startup company with a valuation of more than $1bn which was first popularised by VC Aileen Lee in 2013.
But these days the ranks of unicorns are filling out — there’s now a herd of 672 of them globally — thanks to a glut of investor money. We’ve had to invent the ‘decacorn’ — a startup valued at more than $10bn — and the ‘hectocorn’ — valued at $100bn — to distinguish the standout successes.
See: Forget Unicorns. Zebras are (more sustainable) and the future!
But there are other paths to success than VC-backed rapid growth, and not every startup even wants to be a unicorn. It’s worth taking a moment to consider some of the other animals in the startup menagerie:
Zebra
Zebras, unlike unicorns, are focused more on generating profits than growth at all costs. They are also dual-purpose, both black and white, so they fuse social purpose with shareholder returns.
Rhino
The rhino is a lot like the unicorn — both animals have horns after all. But rhino startups aim to be both big and profitable. In this Tech in Asia article, Nick Nash, cofounder and managing partner of Asia Partners, defines rhinos as companies that have a valuation of $1bn on a price-to-earnings multiple, not on a revenue multiple. Rhinos are actually far rarer than unicorns.
Pigs
Pigs are startups that take advantage of the fact that it has become relatively cheap and easy to make a web product. You can get the development work done at a modest price and even raise some initial capital with a sexy kick-starter campaign.
See: Canada attracts record $4.8 billion in fintech investment in H1’21: how high can it go by year end?
Pigs aren’t building the company for long-term world domination — they’re aiming to sell to a big corporate or a competitor at the right moment.
Bear
A bear is a solitary, awkward creature that values its independence and therefore doesn’t want to take VC money. The founders of these companies choose the bootstrapping route, which makes life harder for them. But if it pays off, they end up rich AND in control of their companies.
Camel
Recently, VCs have been talking more about camel startups. These are creatures that depend less on venture capital to survive. They may raise a few smaller rounds to get going, but can also survive for longer periods in the ‘desert’ of cash-strapped markets.
Cockroach
Cockroach companies aren’t glamorous, aspirational or exciting. But they are great at surviving. Dave McClure, founder of 500 Startups, is credited with coining the term in 2013 to describe resilient companies that optimise for sustainable, steady growth. Like its namesake, the term lived on to grow in the shadows, popped up here and there, and generally survived without making many headlines.
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