** Privilege Wins **

Why yes, I too would like to found a billion dollar company. So what does the data reveal about the best way to a billion dollar valuation? ** Be privileged. ** First, come from a top tier university: *On average, founder of billion dollar startups came from higher ranking schools than average startups. median ranking of startup founder’s universities was 27, compared to 74 for the random group. * Second, work at a top tier company: * Among founders that had worked for another company before, 60% came from top tier companies. * Finally, get funding from a top tier VC firm: * Around 60% of billion dollar startups had raised their venture capital from tier 1 brand names like Sequoia. * In hindsight, none of this should have been surprising, but it was sad to find few other elements of proactive advice for would-be startup founders.

Beyond this, Tamaseb quantifies some dimensions of startups that I found interesting. A little over half of billion dollar startups are software based, and only 30% of the founders had relevant industry experience. Contrary to the founding stories that anybody in Silicon Valley has heard, it’s possible to be successful through the path of solving a problem well known to the founder, or simply to look for a promising business opportunity. “You can either win as a missionary or win as a mercenary. ” But missionary zeal and a strong foundation are not enough to overcome a bad market. * “When a great team meets a lousy market, market wins. When a lousy team meets a great market market wins. When a great team meets a great market something special happens. ”*

The above is from the author’s commentary on his startup dataset. The rest of the book is taken up by vignettes that seem more about the image that the guest-authors should have written as Forbes articles than anything belonging in a book.

Other Interesting Notes:

  • 1/5 billion dollar startups was founded by a solo founder, compared to 36% and 28% for 2 and three founders.
  • High capex has a slightly higher chance of success