It’s no surprise that some of the most successful entrepreneurs started their journey with a great story, and many of these can be found in today’s headlines. However, what is surprising is how many people don’t know who they are or what they did.
The truth is that there are so many different types of success stories, but all have one thing in common: an optimistic outlook and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
Successful startup stories can be defined in many ways. Is it revenue generation versus company size? Is it the number of employees versus cash in the bank? An arbitrary amount of time since founding? The point is, different structures are success stories for various reasons.
That said, let’s dive into some arbitrary but classic look at a few Startups that have the best stories:
Uber – In just nine years, Uber has gone from a startup that no one had heard about to be the most valuable private, venture-backed business in America. It is expected to go public this year and could be worth nearly 100 billion dollars. The company changed transportation worldwideAugust 19th by operating in over 70 countries and becoming an icon of modern innovation and globalization.
Zipcar – Is a car-sharing service that is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It sold to Avis Budget Group for $500 on 19th December 2009.
Car-sharing is the practice of renting an automobile without owning it. Members typically access cars at centralized locations such as parking garages or airports and return them after that. Car sharing may be considered convenient to users who need occasional access to a vehicle and do not want the responsibility of owning and maintaining it indefinitely. Still, studies suggest that there may also be environmental benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
Airbnb – Is a startup success story because, at the time of writing, it has grown to be one of the most profitable companies in Silicon Valley. The company has also achieved what many other companies aspire to do – establish itself as an industry leader with no near-term solution to displacement. Just six years later, what started as two guys renting out air mattresses in their living room raised 1.5 billion dollars in funding and was valued at 30 billion dollars despite competition from other leading-edge startups such as HomeAway; CouchSurfing, and PositivelyWIld!
SpaceX – Is a space exploration company founded in 2002 by Elon Musk. The primary objectives of SpaceX are to Develop Space Exploration Technologies (the technology needed to support human exploration of Mars, sustainable living on Earth) and promote the advancement of humanity beyond Earth into the Solar System. It does this by manufacturing reusable rockets that can be used for cross-planetary travel.
A significant contributor is that they also offer commercial spaceflight services for satellites or human-crewed missions.
It has developed Dragonship prototypes named Deep Space Transport, which would use red class engines to propel it at 1000s miles per day across the solar system or faster depending on route distance traveled. They have two years of advanced life support systems, berths for 500 passengers.
Square – This startup was famously created by Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter. It is a mobile payment system that lets anyone accept credit card payments on whatever device, connects over 15 million users, and handles billions in transactions every year. Yes, we’re talking about Square, not PayPal, which has processed $10 billion worth of payments for businesses this year alone.
Xiaomi – Started as a company providing OEMs with low-cost mobile phones marketed and sold under its brand. Business boomed, and it had to hire engineers and rebrand organizationally. It was considered the 4th largest smartphone maker of 2014, even though it is outside of China.
Rugged development of their mobile phone app then led to the release of its first Android ROM software on 19 August 2010, MIUI (an abbreviation meaning “Me You I”). This became popular for download by enthusiasts in countries where the official Xiaomi store was not present due to limited release or government red tape preventing them from exporting out of China. Users report earlier versions were buggy, but newer editions have been improved stability-wise.
Kickstarter – Samuel Hammond dropped out of college to work with Kickstarter, and he is currently the VP of Marketing at Kickstarter and in charge of messaging for all aspects of their company. Samuel has had a hand in some significant moments in crowdfunding, including the Pebble smartwatch–the highest-earning project ever on Kickstarter–and Oscar’s “Veronica Mars” movie funded through Kickstarter.
But his story doesn’t start there. Before joining Kickstarter, Samuel worked as an entrepreneur building smaller businesses from scratch both online and offline since he was 18 years old. And before all that? A student dropout who couldn’t resist figuring things out independently rather than sitting passively in traditional classrooms throughout high school and college.
E-Trade – Not successful when they first launched their funds. However, they continued improving the site and, in 1997, started marketing the website to individual investors with discounts on trades made through its webcast.
E-Trade used affiliate marketers to attract visitors via SEO tactics and PPC advertising. They also partnered up with established brokerages to offer an additional commission for referrals that led to trades or traditional financial advisors who were clients of E-trade who do use the service. This proved very effective in quickly boosting revenues for E-trade because it provides ongoing fixed income plus residual commissions based on total profits generated by client’s portfolios over time which means lower administrative fees than if each client signed each year individually.
Etsy – started with a vision of building a new economy by enabling creativity to be leveraged into the marketplace. A marketplace based on feedback and approval rather than cost-plus pricing. Etsy was one of the first “peer-to-peer” online marketplaces – giving people an opportunity to share their talents, passions, crafts, or furniture with others so they could invest all their earnings back into what they love doing.
It was founded in 2005 by three founders who set out to build an Internet emporium where anyone could sell handmade items alongside fine arts and vintage collectibles.
YouTube – In 2004, Chad Hurley learned from eBay how auctions work – he developed the idea of “selling through videos” and founded YouTube with Steve Chen. In 2005, investment was raised for a YouTube pre-launch startup round before an official product launch. Investment continued to pour into the company post-release. Google’s bid was rejected because they felt that their goal of identifying one home page hadn’t been reached yet – but were still interested in investing.
In 2006, Youtube left beta testing and filed 265 claims against people distributing copyright material without approval on its website. In 2007, there were 400 million video views a day, mainly due to viral content from viewers uploading thousands of homemade videos every day.
Facebook – Famously, Mark Zuckerburg created a site called Facebook in his Harvard dorm room as early as 2004. Facebook has maintained its success since its inception primarily because it’s managed to provide users with an experience that meets their needs and desires online. For any business or company to succeed today, the founders must know their audience well enough to create products specifically for them.
The success of Facebook is mainly due to its two founders, who were able to devise a strategy of social networking visualized on college campuses around the world. It was successful because it served as an alternative for communicating with 18-24-year-olds during their most visual time in life when many are developing their personalities and identities.
The two had Ivy League backgrounds and thus shared similar values about using technology for good. With its vast outreach, they believed that if they could just get just one million users, it would be worth it because the value of their company presumably grows considerably.
There are many ways to start a business, but the most successful startups have one thing in common. They all had an idea that was truly innovative and could solve a problem for their customers.
What Industry Has The Highest Success Rate For Startups?
A recent study by the Kauffman Foundation found that nine of them will fail for every ten startups. This means out of the tens of thousands of startup companies founded each year, only one in ten survives and thrives.
One industry that has a surprisingly high success rate: Technology Startups. The study found that tech startups have a significant 90% chance at survival (66% chance to become successful).
While not all technology businesses are successful, it is essential to note that this sector has a much higher potential for innovation than other industries due to its strong focus on invention and development.
The startup industry in the US is $330 billion, while the combined industries in China are $17.2 billion. America’s high failure rate inhibits economic growth, while China enjoys rapid growth because their companies often survive.
Even if just 10% of American entrepreneurs pursued a new business idea every day out of frustration with their current company, that would account for more than 1 million startups starting up each year – and they all have to work within legal boundaries that favor large corporations over smaller enterprises.
As compared to other industries, the barriers of entry for tech startups are lower. Thus there is a higher chance that an innovative startup will simply capitalize on an idea that would not have been realized before. In addition, many smaller startups may not be too ambitious and stay in low-risk markets or franchises.
In addition, large companies need to please monopolistic shareholders, which hinders products from being innovative and creative enough for most consumers. This is why these very profitable conglomerates can’t innovate as quickly as a one-person team trying to make it big a great new technology or idea.
It’s no secret that tech startups are the most successful type of business. The key to their success is understanding how people think, which can be applied in digital marketing strategies for any startup company.
The best advice for tech startups is to be patient. It may take some time, but with enough patience and perseverance, you will find success. Invest in your idea wholeheartedly, and never stop trying new things until it’s thriving!
What Percentage Of Tech Startups Fail?
Many claims have been made about the percentage of startups that fail, and the most common share is that 90% of all startups will not survive their first five years.
However, there is no precise and reliable data to back up this claim, and it seems unlikely to be true given recent increases in startup formation rates.
Reports from TechCrunch say that between 60 – 90% of tech startups fail. The numbers are alarming and make anyone who has ever considered starting a company think twice about their decision.
But there is another important statistic to consider as well: 10,000 tech companies were started in the United States last year alone – in fact, more than 1 million small businesses were started nationally previous year according to the U.S. Census Bureau – and a lot of those companies didn’t go out of business right away without achieving success first because they weighed the risks before jumping into it all at once with both feet.
For now, it is safe to say that the main factor in the prognosis lies with whether or not entrepreneurs are funding their firms from savings.
Those less dependent on external financing are more likely to succeed than those who depend mainly on venture capital for startup funding because VCs tend to end up with an equity stake in a failed firm. In contrast, talented entrepreneurs backed by personal resources presumably would not need investors at all.
Common reasons for the failure of a tech startup: revenue too low to cover costs, funding not available, no market or customers interested in product or service. All of these problems make it impossible to run the company and make money.
A 2020 study on startup founders showed that the median tenure before founders left their own companies was over three years.
In other words, most startups don’t live long enough for us to know if they failed or not – and many have been started with good intentions from people who were optimistic about being able to turn things around with some effort.
Conclusion
Many factors affect the success of a startup, and it’s difficult to pinpoint one reason why some startups succeed, and others fail.
However, we can say with certainty that most tech startups don’t make it past three years because they cannot raise enough money or find product-market fit (fewer than 10% survive). If you want your company’s odds at success increased, consider seeking out mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs.
Quick Answers To Frequently Asked Questions
Is social media best for investor storytelling?
Social media is an important tool for investor storytelling because it exposes the company and its narrative to a global audience and provides a powerful connection to other like-minded investors.
What’s the best fintech startup story or brand story?
One of the best fintech startup stories is one where they provide low-income or underserved individuals with access to new, affordable financial services that are more accessible than conventional banking.
Can an early stage startup founder be an angel investor?
Yes, but they are limited to only investing in the startup. If an early-stage startup founder is an angel investor or venture capitalist, it is expected that they invest in the company because of their belief in what the company can grow into rather than with a particular interest in what returns will be. This is sometimes known as “sweat equity” where some risk is taken for a chance at a potentially huge return. It’s fine for a startup founder to take on both positions, as long as he/she discloses that one position could create conflicts.
Is it worth listening to a CEO venture capitalist podcast for a good startup idea?
It’s a good idea to listen to a CEO venture capitalist podcast because VCs have years of experience and their goal is entrepreneurial success. It’s important to keep in mind that just because you listened to one show with great ideas, it doesn’t mean those are necessarily the best ideas out there for someone starting from scratch.
Does the entrepreneurial journey without content marketing causes startup failure?
The entrepreneurial journey can be difficult and there is no way to get around without being prepared. Every company needs a great strategy, but what entrepreneurs should really have in their minds is the mindset that they have to learn from every mistake they commit.
How do aspiring entrepreneurs get to their target audience?
Reach out to bloggers in your target audience with products that are complementary to theirs. Bloggers want followers; there’s no better way than giving them complementary products for free which will ultimately boost their income.
What’s the best business model for a technology startup?
When I describe the goals of a technology startup to my students, they are not happy. Why? They are used to getting what they want when they want it. So I discuss how in business, you must prioritize growth over profit. Most people don’t know that fewer than one percent of new companies make 10 million or more in revenue annually even after 20 years, but these rare companies have very high rates of customer satisfaction and growth with low debt levels.
How is a lean startup pitch deck different?
A lean startup pitch deck is much shorter and to the point than a traditional business pitch deck. The idea behind it is that instead of presenting all the things your company does, you’ll want to show how you solve one particular problem or fill one definite need in an existing market.
Can artificial intelligence create a successful company?
AI can create a successful company if the machine monitors the world around it and optimizes its own efficiency, speed, and function to increase its chances of success.
How do I best write my company’s story on a blog post?
Start with an introduction to the company. Tell us what you do and how you do it. Share your story. Talk about your product or service in ways that are relatable to the reader (i.e., someone who wants what you offer) and show why they need it now more than ever before. Finally, tie together the beginning of your journey with where you are now, telling readers that this is just the beginning for your company!
Do I need entrepreneurship to become a startup owner?
No, you just need to have the vision, passion, stamina, and risk tolerance to build something worth investing in. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an entrepreneur or not.
