From Startup to Unicorn: An Essential Guide to Build, Scale and Sustain Value for Platform and Tech Startups

Acknowledgements
Contents
About the Author
1: The Power of Entrepreneurship
	Subverting National Sovereignty
	Are You Meant To Be an Entrepreneur?
	Takeaway: Vision Is Key. Everything Else Can Be Hired
	Why Entrepreneurship?
	References
2: The Entrepreneurial Mindset…
	What’s the Best Background to Become an Entrepreneur?
	Different Kinds of Startups
		Technology Startups
		Startups Driven by Pain
		Platform or Route-to-Market Startups
	Technology Startups
	Startups That Start with the Pain
	Platform Startups
	How to Start a Technology Startup
	Transitioning Tech to Manufacturing in a Tech Startup
		Takeaway: To Scale your Technology, Freeze the Tech, Work the Manufacturing
	How to Start a Platform Startup
		Software-Driven
		Investor Ecosystem
	Milestone Planning in a Startup
	Can You Sustain the Competitive Advantage of an Existing Business?
	Annex 1
	Reference
3: Pitching to Investors: Conveying the Essential Aspects of Technology Startups
	Technology
	Team
		Loyalty
		Vision Aligned
		Fully Onboard
		Gaps and How to Address Them
		Balance
	Market
		Vertical Focus
		Requirement Gap
	Manufacturability
	IP
	Competition
		Gap Defined
		Monetisable
		Size, Growth and Stickiness of Competitors
		Market Evolution
4: Go-To-Market Strategies, Investor Options and Tracking Value
	Go-To-Market
		Value Vs Volume
		Turnkey Vs Customisation
		Partner Strategy
		Value Capture Across Supply Chain
		Beachhead Market Traction
		Pilot Customer and Distribution Channels
		Horizontal Vs Vertical
		Reference Points
	Investors and Funding
		Own
		Awards
		Customer Funding
		Angel Investors
		Family Offices
		Foundations
		Angel Funds
		VCs
		Strategic Investors
	VC Vs Strategic Investors
	Where’s the Value?
5: Technology Startups: Machinery and Manufacturing
	Technology Leadership
	Machine Customisation
		Custom Components
		Guarantees
		Machine Building Bottleneck
		Custom Process
		Revenue for Inaction
		For Tech’s Sake
		Certification
		Replication
		Asset Lock
		Dilution
		Milestone Plan
	Manufacturing
		Mindset of Manufacturability
6: Technology Startups: Maximising Product Value, from the Customer’s Perspective
	Logistics
	Component Vs Solution
		Internal Component
		Internal Solution
		Sell-Through Component
		Sell-Through Solution
	Manufacturability
	Mindset
	Reaching Scale
	Multiplier Effect of Money
	Outsourcing
	Standards
	Cost Optimisation Vs Value Capture
	Hardware Vs Software (Pricing, Scale, Replicability)
	Lab Market
7: Technology Startups: Value Transition, Pre-Empting Risks and Sustaining Relevance
	Stability
	Timeline of Technology
		Tech as Competitive Advantage
		Tech as Revenue Driver
		Technology Capturing Value in a Declining Market
		Exception 1: Health
		Exception 2: National Security
	New Business Models in Mature Markets
		Facebook and LinkedIn
		Ring
		Tesla
		Fitbit
		Genome Startups
		Apple iWatch
	Tech Convergence into a Platform
8: Platform Startups: Foundation
	Really Tiny Vertical
	Are you Addressing the User’s Work or Leisure?
	What Segment Are You Replacing?
	Addressing Pain
	Tech ≠ Platform
	Enable a Conversation
	Unicorns Over the Decades
		Leveraging Weaknesses of Incumbents
		Capability to Scale
		Cold Start Problem
		Investor Commitment
		Team Alignment
		Ecosystem
9: Platform startups: Pre-Empting Challenges and Identifying Opportunities
	Tech-Agnostic
	User Networking Effect
	Evolving Business Models
		Goods and Services
		Eyeballs
		Online Personal Info
		Platforms to Enable Business
		Platform with Its Own Branded Content
	User Personal Information
	Platform Looking for a Slice of the User’s World
		Platform Productising the User
		User-Driven Network
		Platform Tracking Users’ Interest
		The User Assumes Platform Ownership
		Pre-Empting Health Conditions Based on Big Data
		Platforms Looking at Genetic Information
		Platform Looking for a Slice of the User’s Time
		Platform Enabling Users to Share Experiences Within the Network
		Leveraging the User’s Leisure
		Enjoyment Driving User Stickiness
10: Sustaining Platform Value
	Tapping the User’s Emotions or Stay Mad, Stay Tuned
	Platform Owns User
		Partially Closed Loop
		Fully Closed Platform
	R Value
11: Waves of Value Transition
	The First Wave: Risk
	The Second Wave: Credit
	The Third Wave: Extractive
	The Fourth Wave: Transactional
	The Fifth Wave: Pre-Emptive
	The Next Wave: Generational
	The Final Wave: Convergence
12: Identifying the Right Investors
	Obsession
	Communication
	Can you Sell?
	Gel
	Who Will You Hire to Report to?
	Bootstrap
	What Is Your Priority?
	What Are You Making Better?
	Being Great
	Easy Money
	Milestones
	Technology Risks
	Manufacturing Risks
	Commercial Risks
	Lock-In
	Existing Entrepreneurs in the Mix
	Once Investors Are Onboard
	IPO and Implications
	First-Time Investors and Their Mistakes
		Angels
		FOMO
		Emotional Investment
		Timeline
		Future Funding
		Competence
		Sole Investor
		No Clarity
		Financial Oversight
		Different Objectives
	First-Time Strategic Investors
		Executive Sponsorship
		Size of Investment
		Future Funding
		Other Investors in Future Rounds
		Rights and Obligations
		Timeline to Scale
		Future Strategy (Scale or Exit)
		Inclusive or Exclusive
		Reason for Investment
		Payment for Buying or Investing and Startup Founder Lock-In
13: All About Equity
	Startup Valuation
	Looking Inwards
	Valuation to Close Deals
	Anti-Dilution
	Veto
	Initial Funding Size
	Convertible Loans
	Priority Rights
	Valuation with Future Funding for Strategic Investors
	Earn-Up
	Participating Preferred
	Drawing Them In
14: Scale or Sale
	Factors That Help Decide Whether to Scale or Sell
		Founders
		Technology
	Funding to Scale
	Financial Investors
	Strategic Investors
		Risks with Strategic Investors
		Risk Mitigation
	Bridge Funding
		Non-dilutive Funding
		Lean
		Funding from Customers
			Sale
		Risks
		Mitigation
		Irrelevance
	How Can You Maximise Exit Valuation?
		Standard
		Platform
		Transitioning Value
		Stakes of Stakeholders
		Strategic Investors
		Reverse Exclusivity
		Investment Rounds
		Own Vertical
		Long-Term Contracts
		Multiyear Service Agreements
		Ecosystems
		Exclusivity with Strategic Customers
	Partial Exit
	Institutionalisation: Why Startups Need to Institutionalise
15: Why Entrepreneurs Fail
	Long-Term Liabilities Tracking Short-Term Revenue
	No Beachhead in Platform Startup
16: Does Geography Matter?
	The US Perspective
	View from Europe
	The Asian Perspective
	View from the UK
	The Swiss Perspective
		Technology
		Incubators
		Inclusive Environment
		Open Ecosystem
		Manufacturing Skills
		Hiring Good People
		Funding and Investors
17: Purpose