A Cockroach, the sight of them can disgust most of us, but in the startup world, it resonates with being seen as resilient creatures, that can live through harshest of the conditions. Unlike its counterpart, the mystical and mighty and larger than life Unicorn.
Last year investors literally splurged the money on unicorns – companies with or more than $ 1 billion valuations. But this year it seems to be the turn of the Cockroach startups. Startups that scale slowly with sound fundamentals and strong business models. In other words, startups that can sustain in any condition.
So how exactly can your startup become a cockroach startup?
a)Create a sustainable business model…
India’s largest unicorn, Flipkart, and Snapdeal both have failed to raise money at a higher valuation. It’s not about lack of money in the system it’s because these giants are simply failing to grow their revenues to match the valuations they are expecting. Creating a sustainable business/revenue model that can be recession proof and long lasting which can withstand dry funding seasons.
b)Spend it the right way!
If you know that most of your work will require a computer system to churn out a lot of heavy designs and graphics work then purchasing Macintosh systems is not a splurge. Even if your office is small in a small suburb with no designer furniture or decor, it doesn't matter! You have your priorities right. Sometimes startups to save on cost opt for cheaper servers and hosting services. But they don't realise that a bad server can cost heavily especially on the reputation that strived hard to build in the market. One crash server incident can attract countless negative reviews within hours.
c)keep the product at the centre of your attention, funding later!
A startup's main goal should always be to provide value to the consumers. A cockroach startup believes in the model that provides value at the core of their being. If you are concentrating on making your product or service that people will pay you for with a smile, congrats you have successfully converted your startup into a Cockroach Startup
