Jeremy Tan says "Look for Zebras"

Too many investors only look for Unicorns 🦄 

Here’s why investors should look for 🦓 Zebras instead
 
If you’ve been following my posts, you’ll notice I use the zebra emoji 🦓 a lot.
 
You see...
 
The startup and investment world are OBSESSED about unicorns.
 
I've been personally against the notion that the narrow focus on achieving unicorn status is the only way to succeed.
 
🦄 Unicorns are defined as such:
- Fast-growing companies that hit $1Billion valuations that eventually IPO.
- Extremely rare and hard to find - the stuff of legends.
- Uber, Airbnb are a couple of names most consider to be unicorns.
 
🦓 Zebras on the other hand:
- A defined subset of startup companies that focus on sustainable growth,
- Find creative means to grow that don’t involve pure capital acceleration.
- Companies like Hubspot and Atlassian come to mind.
 
It's becoming the more attractive type of investments to look for…
Some reasons why:
 
1/ Risk vs Return
 
🦄  Unicorns sport hockey-stick-style growth - short, steep, and aggressive
🦓 Zebras go slow-and-steady - sustainable growth over time
 
Unicorns are notoriously high-risk. Longer time horizons in investments mean you can find and have a lower risk investing in Zebras for pretty attractive outcomes.
 
2/ Real value and impact from day one
 
🦄  Unicorns often spend capital to acquire users at pace to outcompete others (aka growth at all costs)
🦓 Zebras focus on building products that add value to customers and reduce churn
 
3/ Zero-sum vs Win-Win
 
🦄  Unicorns seek to be clear winners and dominate the market
🦓 Zebras co-exist and cooperate to win together, sharing resources and insight
 
Especially now where we’re seeing this much uncertainty, it’s crucial focus on the basics – sustainable growth and a pathway to profitability.
 
It's no surprise that plenty of investors are seeking out Zebras today.
 
I’m a 🦓 Zebra fan, how about you?