Chasing mythical creatures – A (not-so-sympathetic) critique of entrepreneurship's obsession with unicorn startups

Andreas Kuckertz, Maximilian Scheu and Per Davidsson

Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 2023, vol. 19, issue C

Abstract: In recent years, the notion of a unicorn, a startup exceeding a premarket valuation of one billion USD, has become one of the most prominent concepts in the practical discourse of entrepreneurship. Consequently, entrepreneurs aim to build unicorns, investors want to participate in their success, policymakers strive to support their emergence, and educators present them as an ideal-type entrepreneurial activity. We challenge this view with a provocative critique of the positive mainstream perception of unicorns. First, we characterize unicorns as an ambiguous analytical category with little value for research and evidence-based policy. Second, we point to the danger of neglecting the multifaceted nature of entrepreneurship by focusing solely on extreme outliers. Third, we highlight the potentially unethical consequences of entrepreneurship's obsession with unicorns. Finally, we conclude that focusing on unicorns contributes to a biased picture of entrepreneurship that favors valuation (i.e., the unicorn) over value creation (i.e., productive entrepreneurship).

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth; Startup; Valuation; Unicorn; Value creation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:19:y:2023:i:c:s2352673422000634

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2022.e00365

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