As Josh Wolfe says, “Chips on shoulders put chips in pockets”…
A study titled “Unicorn Founder DNA Report” by Defiance Capital analyzed 845 unicorns and 2,018 unicorn founders. The goal was to determine what these founders (and their companies) all had in common.
The biggest takeaway 💡: Most unicorn companies have “underdog” founders who are often drawn from the top 10 universities.
In addition, the Defiance team uncovered several other interesting insights. Here are some of my favorites from the study:
🫶 Underrepresented founders — 70% of unicorns have at least one founder from an underrepresented background (immigrants, women, people of color).
🦄 The face of the unicorn is changing — 17% of unicorns had a female founder in 2023.
📜 53% of unicorn founders have a degree from a top-10 global university.
👩🔬 49% of unicorn CEOs have STEM degrees, while 70% of founder teams have STEM degrees.
🌏 Unicorn founders are predominantly white, but about 38% of unicorns have at least one non-white founder.
🚢 62% had first or second-generation immigrant founders.
♻️ Serial founders are 50% more likely to succeed in building a unicorn.
🏢 Only 34% of unicorn founders have worked at an elite employer prior to founding a unicorn.
According to the same study, there are three core attributes of a unicorn founder:
1. No “plan B”
2. “A chip on the shoulder”
3. Unlimited self belief
Chips on shoulders… chips in pockets.
Always bet on the underdog.
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