90 US-based unicorns originated outside the US, starting in 31 different countries.

29 come from Israel. 8 from UK. 7 more from India.

Australia, Canada, and France have 4 each.

China, Portugal, and Spain – 3. Denmark, Netherlands, and Nigeria – 2. 19 other countries – 1.

The status quo is the worst enemy of innovation. Change almost never happens smoothly. New business, new gigs, new ideas can change your current life and business dramatically. Where would be Amazon without AWS? Or Netflix without its own content? Or Google without YouTube?

You

Are you upset when you don’t get straight A’s? You should not be if you want to think like VCs and find breakthrough ideas.

“Failure is not an option” is a good strategy for the “business as usual” circumstances, but it is not an optimal strategy when you embark on a new

The Venture Mindset receives endorsements from leading CEOs

Securing endorsements from legendary CEOs like Eric Schmidt (ex-Google) and Carlos Brito (ex-AB InBev) for my forthcoming book is not just a win; it's a reason to celebrate with champagne! THANK YOU, Eric and Carlos! 🍾

Getting an advanced degree does not make it more likely that your startup company will become a unicorn.

Comparing the highest degree earned for unicorn founders and a matched sample of VC-backed startups:

Doctoral degree: unicorns 21%, others 20%

Master’s/MBA: 29% for each

🦄Nearly half of private unicorns (46%) operate with <500 employees!

Here's how the rest stack up:

500-1K employees: 30%
1K-1.5K: 11%
1.5K-2K: 5%
2K-2.5K: 3%
2.5K-3K: 1%
3K+: 4%

🌟Diverse sizes, unique success paths.

Data are from 2022 and include 504 US private unicorns.

It’s a QUIZ day. Win a signed copy of our book The Venture Mindset!

It’s not every day that one can get an article published in Harvard Business Review. Today a new issue of the magazine is hitting the stands, including our article “How to Make Decisions with a VC Mindset.”

To celebrate,

ERISA: Game-changer for the US VC industry 📈

In the 1970s, ERISA allowed pension fund trustees to invest in “alternative” assets for the first time.

63 of the top 300 US companies owe their success to ERISA reforms.

Full research: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… 📑

#ERISA #US

ERISA has had a profound impact on the US venture capital industry, a fact that remains surprisingly unknown.

Have you ever heard about ERISA before? Please let me know in the poll below.

Ever wondered what it feels like to be a part of one of the most oversubscribed classes at Stanford University?
Now and in the next 4 weeks you have a chance to join a zoom webinar based on the Stanford UniversityGSB Venture Capital class.

How to do this? Pre-order the book, submit the form on

My Harvard Business Review article on what makes the venture mindset so unique has just been published online!

“Make Decisions with a VC Mindset” addresses the key and often overlooked issues of how to improve the quality of high-stakes decisions in any organization.

Read the

Every twelfth US unicorn was founded outside the US.

The US is the world’s immigration hub. Not just for people, but also for companies. Nearly 100 US unicorns started in another country.

Check out where the globally founded US unicorns are coming from!

#business #startups

4 of the 10 unicorns with the biggest 180-day absolute stock return following the IPO are companies that date back to the dot-com era. They are:

🥇 Actua (873%)
🥈 Homestore.com (296%)
🥉 Red Hat (242%)
🏅 Juniper Networks (226%)

#startups #innovation #technology

Very exciting development from my friends at Higgsfield!

The UK has 46 different schools with graduates who went on to found US-based unicorns. Of these, 46 pursued bachelor's degrees, 52 master's degrees, 6 – MBAs, and 17 PhDs. These people are associated with 88 unicorns, making up 8% of the US unicorn landscape.

#startups #founders

Places where the most unicorn founders studied relative to state population:
1️⃣ Massachusetts: 65.6 per 1 million people
2️⃣ Rhode Island: 32.9/1M
3️⃣ Connecticut: 25.4/1M
4️⃣ New Hampshire: 22/1M
5️⃣ Vermont: 18.5/1M
6️⃣ Utah: 17.7/1M
7️⃣ California: 17/1M

Inspired by one of the comments, I examined the number of unicorn founders who studied in each state relative to its population. Can you guess the leading state?

Share your ideas. If you think the correct answer is not on the list, please share your guess in the comments. I