EXPERTISE
UNICORN STRATEGY
Below is a excerpt of a Hubspot article The Comprehensive Unicorn Startup List for 2022.
The Comprehensive Unicorn Startup List for 2022
A unicorn startup is a private company valued over $1 billion. Venture capitalist Aileen Lee coined the term “unicorn startup” in a 2013 TechCrunch article on the lessons learned from the explosive success of the few Facebooks and Googles of the world. At the time, she said that companies who can reach this milestone valuation are as rare as unicorns.
There were 39 unicorns on the list in 2013. In 2022, there are almost 900 unicorn startups in the world, valued at more than $3.5 trillion combined. Even bigger variations of unicorns have popped up since the birth of the original term: Decacorns are valued at more than $10 billion and hectacorns are valued at more than $100 billion.
Unicorns are not as rare as they were in 2013, but it still takes a lot of hard work to join the herd. We partnered with PitchBook to take a deep dive into the world of unicorn startups and to give you a snapshot of today’s herd.
Unicorns Require World Class Strategy & Expertise
The article indicates “Unicorns are not as rare as they were in 2013, but it still takes a lot of hard work to join the herd. ” This is absolutely true but it is NOT only hard work that is the differentiator. Experience, expertise, and most of all strategy are what makes the difference in the probability of actually succeeding. Botsteps founder has studied MANY startup companies, strategies, business models and history’s most successful people. He has started to construct a centralized platform of success at BotBotBest.com. Most startups fail. We also participate in an M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions) mastermind group that includes hundreds of successful companies completing acquisitions all around the world. This group includes strategy, mentorship, and networking contacts including access to the world’s top investors and banks.
Real World Unicorn Success Story
One of the companies in this M&A mastermind group went from a startup to being valued at over $1B (unicorn status) in less than 2 years from 2020 to 2022. This was done through a series of over a dozen acquisitions. In addition, Botsteps has chosen an industry with even higher valuation multiples than that particular company.
Our Founder Helped to Enable the AI Industry With Cadence Design Systems Parallel Super Computing Hardware Emulation
Our founder has experience in the high technology world including working with companies including nVidia at Cadence Design System to provide parallel super computer technology which literally was the primary technology that enabled GPUs for the compute intensive AI (Artificial Intelligence) industry applications. Acquisitions combined with technology level valuation multipliers makes it quite realistic to be valued over $1B in a short time period without the risks of starting from scratch on every revenue stream.
Our Founder Worked at Barry-Wehmiller (Industrial Automation) Built On > 120 Acquisitions &
Cadence Design (Electronic Design Automation) Built On > 50 Acquisitions
Two of the companies our founder worked for were built through a series of many acquisitions. Cadence acquired over 50 companies and Barry-Wehmiller over 120. He was intimately involved with helping to grow those companies post acquisition and in the case of Cadence he first helped to build the parallel super computing (emulation) startup (Axis Systems) and he was personally chosen to be in the boardroom to give the technical presentations and demonstrations to the executive team of the acquring company sell Axis Systems for $80M to Verisity Design. He then helped to sell Verisity to Cadence for $300M. These 3 companies were integral to the development of the AI industry and every other high tech industry (3D video games, virtual realities, cell phones, computers, etc) on the planet.
Studying & Following The Examples Of The World’s Most Successful Companies
Botsteps has adopted an M&A approach as one part of it’s strategy but also with methodologies from other successful companies and business leaders including Warren Buffet and Elon Musk. Our founder attended the 2022 Berkshire-Hathaway shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska with Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger. They spoke about how Geico Insurance generates a large portion of the operating capital needed to invest in new acquisitions and growth. Likewise, Elon Musk funded Tesla, SpaceX and his other technology companies with funds he made selling his first two startups, including Paypal. Elon was always most passionate about electric cars and rockets. Paypal, however enabled him to fund his vision for electric self driving cars and rocketships to Mars. It is best to avoid the startup phase where most companies fail. Botsteps’ strategy is a hybrid of these various strategies. Use the acquisition model to ramp quickly by acquiring already profitable companies. Elon Musk himself as well as Google’s CEO have indicated that all areas of life and virtually all products will implement AI in some form or another.
Change The World – Building World Class Companies & Brands
Botsteps will select acqusition targets that are both complimentary to our long term high technology vision (our versions of Tesla & SpaceX) but that will also provide working capital as Geico does for Berkshire-Hathaway and Paypal did for Elon Musk. This is in a nutshell our hybrid business strategy. This is how Botsteps plans to quickly ramp up to unicorn status, and to then springboard the profitability of the acquired companies (while also learning more and more about automation and AI technologies), and finally building cutting edge new high technology automation and AI centric products, brands and companies that will compete with the best companies in the world. One example is Santa Cruz Boats. Our founder recently consulted for Candela Boats, called the Tesla of the seas by Forbes magazine. Santa Cruz Boats is our vision for AI powered, self driving, electric hydrofoiling boats that will be able to travel around the world using renewable energy sources and provide sustainable off grid housing that will be one of the most ideal forms for the future of remote work and worldwide travel. Another visionary product is Smartcampervan which likewise will be AI powered, self driving, electric, be able to travel around the world using renewable energy sources and also provide sustainable off grid housing. This focus on next generation AI powered travel & housing products is also WHY Botsteps will begin it’s acquisitions strategy by acquiring Delta Boat Works and Riverboat Marina. Shipwright Resort will be developed from the existing properties there and Santa Cruz Boats and Smartcampervan and other companies will be developed on site.
Solo Unicorn Brands
Some brands on our roadmap have potential to be unicorns all by themselves. Structzz is a social media platform brand centered around sharing virtually any kind of project or really anything with steps. Our founder believes Structzz with significant development resources behind it could achieve such a status at a level with the most well known social media websites and apps. It was born from a problem he can’t find solved anywhere… a problem of how to share projects in the particular way he envisions… which currently does not exist in the world. Since everything being built at Botsteps is a project… Structzz also is applicable to every project within the company or any project for any person or any company. Hence the TAM (Total Available Market) like most social media applications is very large. The whole world. Every industry. Any project.
What Is an Economic Moat?
The term “economic moat,” popularized by Warren Buffett, refers to a business’s ability to maintain competitive advantages over its competitors in order to protect its long-term profits and market share. Just like a medieval castle, the moat serves to protect those inside the fortress and their riches from outsiders.
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
In his book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World David Epstein examined the world’s most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters and scientists. He discovered that in most fields—especially those that are complex and unpredictable—generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. Generalists often find their path late, and they juggle many interests rather than focusing on one. They’re also more creative, more agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can’t see.
Our Founder Has A Unique Combination Of Technical & Business Expertise
The fields of automation, AI and machine learning are certainly complex and unpredictable.
Our founder is most definitely a generalist with a VERY wide range of experience and expertise. This definitely allows him to make connections his more specialized peers can’t see. He has also been obsessed with reading and learning his entire life. Seeing what others do not, ie vision, requires a lot of varied input. This is literally the secret to machine learning and human innovation. The more input and the more varied the input the higher quality output.
Check out the Expertise links above for details.