Published on February 10, 2024
We looked at over 1000 startups in the past 12 months and here’s what we learned
Published by Jerry Teng
Happy Lunar New Year Everyone 🐉
Over the past 12 months, our team at unistart have collectively reviewed over 1000 early stage startups, and spoke to ~250.
Here are 5 reflections:
1. Survival rate is very low: 50% are dead in <6 months, 90% dies in <12 months.
2. Student led startups have a lower survival rate: but this maybe because there are significantly more students building than those who are already working (more commitments). Those who have worked a few years are also more likely to raise funding from their network to prolong runway and figure something out.
3. Most founders tend to solve problems for their age group: student founders are solving problems for 18-24 year olds while those with work experience are building solutions for their industry.
4. There are few potential unicorns in the making: none are pure “zero to one” ventures that Peter Thiel would token, they are however, creative. Borrowing ideas from 2 or more industries and cross pollinating them. Result? 1 to many n.
5. Don’t judge a book by its cover -> don’t judge a founder by their education: some of the founders with actual traction that we’ve met don’t come from top schools. They have a harder time raising money but they are extremely passionate and persistent about the problem they are solving. When they do get funding, it’s like swapping a 2L with a V8, they go really really fast.