South Korea to Create the ‘Second Venture Boom’: From Startups to Unicorn Companies

Lee, Jung Hun; Kim, Tae Yeong; Jang, Kyungmin; Jeon, Jeong Ho; Kim, Young Bae; Jeong, Byeong Chul; Lee, Sangeun

doi:10.18502/ijph.v51i4.9258

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As shown in Figure 3, the first peer-reviewed articles on unicorns trace back to 2015 (Brown and Wiles, 2015; Fenwick and Vermeulen, 2015), two years after the term “unicorn” was first introduced to characterize companies valued at least 1 billion USD (Lee, 2013). It is meaningful that of the 35 articles on unicorns related to the 2015–2023 time span, half of them were published in the last three years.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2013, venture capitalist Aileen Lee adopted the term “unicorn” to describe privately held firms valued at least one billion USD. While at that time, only 39 companies were forming the exclusive “unicorn club” (Lee, 2013), today, more than 1,200 belong to this categorization (Crunchbase, 2023). Furthermore, despite representing only a tiny fraction of global business, unicorns include a wide representation of disruptive companies such as Airbnb, Uber, and TikTok, making them an interesting observation unit for management scholars (Trabucchi et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Beyond myth: a systematic literature review on the emergence of unicorn firms

Giardino,

Delladio,

Baiocco

et al. 2023

JSBED

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeThis study aims to provide a systematic and comprehensive examination of the underlying factors enabling the emergence of unicorn firms. By addressing this research gap and offering an integrative framework, it seeks to support future research efforts in understanding this phenomenon and contribute to the academic debate around it.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a systematic literature review (SLR) approach and thematic analysis of articles retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science databases.FindingsThe study sheds light on internal characteristics, ranging from the entrepreneurial (human capital and knowledge) to firm-specific level (business model, corporate governance, resources) and external ones related to the funding factors (financial patterns, venture capitalists, firm evaluation) and the ecosystem (entrepreneurial and technology) around the phenomenon of unicorn firms.Originality/valueThis is the first systematic literature review on unicorns that offers insights into the internal and external factors driving the emergence of such firms, contributes to shed light on the main criticalities that blur their understanding and presents a research agenda for developing this field of research.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond myth: a systematic literature review on the emergence of unicorn firms

Giardino,

Delladio,

Baiocco

et al. 2023

JSBED

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The unicorn designation came into being by venture capitalist Aileen Lee's usage of the term to describe a firm reaching a billion-dollar valuation status (Lee, 2013). Like the prospective animal it exemplifies, these business types are unique as their value in relation to other companies that survive.…”

Section: Unicornsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The enterprise-oriented unicorns became worth more by earning a higher return on investments although they raised far less private capital. Lee (2013) reports unicorns fall evenly into four major business models including consumer ecommerce, consumer, software services and enterprise software.…”

Section: Unicornsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Startup Business Types and Their Leaders

Fischer,

Orr

2023

AJM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the past few decades, the number of businesses with a market value of one billion USD or more has significantly grown. Aided by new technology and business models, these businesses are a major part of our lives. This discussion explores various startup business types such as unicorns that evolve into billion -dollar ventures, high growth gazelle business that increase their revenue at least 20 percent annually, and dragons that not only have high growth but attain dominance in their industry. The technology employed by these startups in their growth process together with their management and business organizations are presented. A discussion of selected unicorns together with their innovative technology and entrepreneur leadership help to explain the fast-growing startup’s success.

show abstract

“…In the world of entrepreneurship, few achievements are as valued as founding a unicorn startup, a term coined by Aileen Lee in 2013 to describe privately held companies that reach a valuation of over $1 billion (Lee, 2013). The rise of such startups in the past two decades has not only reshaped global markets and disrupted traditional business models but has also drawn interest in the minds behind these ventures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Makes a Successful Unicorn Startup Founder? Exploring Founders’ Backgrounds

Stafeev

2024

J. Professional Business Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: The rapid growth of unicorn startups — privately held startup companies valued at over $1 billion — has inspired researchers and investors to better understand the key factors behind their success. While product-market fit, timing, and business models are frequently studied, this paper dive deeper into the backgrounds of the founders themselves. By analyzing various educational, and professional attributes of unicorn startup founders, we seek to uncover common patterns and insights that might hint at the success criteria of unicorn creation. Design/Methodology/Approach: Our study adopted an exploratory approach utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods to discover the nuances of unicorn startup founders' backgrounds. Using a dataset of 3925 founders, we identified patterns in unicorn creation. In addition, qualitative insights were garnered through a review of existing literature. This approach provided a comprehensive view bridging the data with theoretical review. Findings: A significant proportion of unicorn startup founders 1163 of the 3925 examined, had prior entrepreneurial engagements, which underlines the value of experience in high-impact ventures. A pronounced gender imbalance was observed, with a whopping 93% of founders being male, spotlighting potential systemic and cultural barriers in the entrepreneurial field. Fields such as International Relations, Public Administration, and STEM disciplines like Bioengineering and Medical Informatics were represented among the unicorn producing majors. These findings suggest a cross-disciplinary effect resulting in unicorn creation. Originality: Instead of just focusing on one part of founders’ background, this study combines their education and experiences to give a full picture. This approach makes it unique and adds a new perspective to what we know about successful startups. This new angle can prompt more research and give us a deeper understanding of how unicorn startups come to be.

show abstract

South Korea to Create the ‘Second Venture Boom’: From Startups to Unicorn Companies

Abstract: The article's abstract is not available.

Cited by 5 publications

References 3 publications

Beyond myth: a systematic literature review on the emergence of unicorn firms

Beyond myth: a systematic literature review on the emergence of unicorn firms

Startup Business Types and Their Leaders

What Makes a Successful Unicorn Startup Founder? Exploring Founders’ Backgrounds

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About