Hyderabad: Capital, strategy key for creating unicorns

Hyderabad: Unicorn is a magical and unique thing that captures heart. Tiny startups turning into multi-billion companies in short span of time are the unicorns. But how to create a unicorn?

Speaking on the second day of virtual BioAsia convention here on Tuesday, George Bickerstaff, co-founder and Managing Director, MM Dillon & Co., former CFO, Novartis said: "Creating unicorns requires three high level things.

Firstly, one has to have proper strategy for the company to take-off then followed by accumulation of capital to further support the strategy. And finally proper governance structure of the company to help the startups in sailing through difficult times".

According to George Bickerstaff, "The investors should look at five aspects to identify future unicorns - look for great management team which is capable of handling day-to-day functioning of the startup.

Enquire about Board of Directors of the company because these are the key people who will take crucial decision from appointing CEO to what should be future course of action.

The next question you have to ask is can I attract new investors? Investors are vital part of startups they not only provide capital but also shares ideas with the company.

The next thing you have to do is look at the business model of the company – ask yourself that can my experience add value to the company. And the final question to ponder about is can my money, time and investment help me in achieving my goals", he added.

Unicorns can be found where the tectonics plate joins – startups turn into unicorn where conventional fields intersects with technology.

For instance, health sector collaborating with information and communication technology, Genome editing field, personilised medicines can produce future unicorns, he said.