Building a unicorn? Start here: Four principles every founder should know

As an investor who has backed over 350 companies, I’ve learned that success isn’t about having the most resources, the largest team, or even the most innovative idea. It’s about focus.

Here are the key principles of focus that have helped some of the most successful companies in my portfolio, such as Miro, Deel and others, achieve unicorn status. I’ve also included examples where a lack of focus led to the opposite outcome.

Start with one crystal-clear idea

Every startup faces the challenge of limited resources. There is never enough money, time, people or energy. This is why prioritisation is key. Trying to do everything means you will likely achieve nothing.

The most successful companies begin with a crystal-clear idea: a single problem they aim to solve brilliantly. They do not spread their scarce resources thin; instead, they narrow their focus.

Take Miro as an example. They did not start as a platform or try to be everything for everyone. Their initial mission was simple: improve whiteboard communication. By concentrating on this single proposition, they established themselves as a leader, transformed into an innovation workspace, and today they are a globally recognised unicorn that shapes an entire product category.

Choosing your core idea is an existential decision. It should be simple enough for a five-year-old to understand and unique enough to stand out in the market.

Build an Aligned Team 

A great idea alone is not enough; you need a team to execute it. My experience shows that when a team is aligned in motivation and vision, they can overcome extraordinary challenges.

Every team member must:

• Have a relevant background that aligns with the company’s needs
• Deeply understand the company’s mission
• Communicate it in a consistent and clear way
• Be motivated by more than just financial gain

Let me share a story about a promising startup I once invested in.

At the time, no mainstream gadgets provided real-time tracking for kids. The company was built around a simple yet powerful idea: help parents stay connected with their children’s after-school activities. Parents struggled with a lack of visibility into where their children were, what they were doing after school and when they would be free. This startup aimed to solve this with a simple messenger connecting parents, schools and after-school programmes.

However, the project fell apart due to misalignment at the leadership level. The CEO, an experienced Harvard graduate with deep domain expertise, hired a corporate-experienced CTO rather than someone with a startup mindset. While technically skilled, the CTO came from a vastly different background.

Instead of launching quickly with an MVP, the CTO began building an overly complex product from scratch, which delayed their launch for over a year.

Even worse, they lost their market focus. Instead of sticking with their original audience (parents), the team pivoted to serve schools. They changed their core vision, started competing in a completely different space and ultimately failed.

This failure was not due to a lack of resources or expertise. It was a failure of alignment. These missteps diluted their efforts and prevented them from achieving their full potential.

While disagreements within a team are inevitable, they can be productive as long as they do not challenge the fundamental vision. Sometimes, though, it is better to part ways when alignment is not possible.

Handle Client Requests Strategically

Even with a clear idea and an incredible team, distractions will arise. One of the most common is client requests. Here is a hard truth: not every client request should be implemented.

Research from CB Insights highlights a key trend: 20% of startups fail because they are outcompeted. Adding more features increases this risk, as each new feature puts you up against different players in the market.

I have seen many startups collapse under the weight of trying to do too much. As discussed earlier, one startup in my portfolio lost its way by shifting from a simple messaging app for parents to a complex after-school management system. As schools began using the platform, they requested additional features, and the team delivered them. In doing so, they found themselves competing with well-established players in school management software, companies with years of experience and far greater resources.

The best founders operate with discipline. Before adding new features or changes to the pipeline, they ask themselves three questions:

1. Does this align with our core value proposition?
2. Will this serve our broader strategy?
3. Can we implement this without losing focus?

Master focused communication

Technological advancements, particularly in AI, cloud computing and no-code tools, have significantly reduced the costs of starting a company and lowered the barriers to entry in tech. As a result, today’s market is extremely saturated, and competition will only intensify. Understanding what truly sets a product apart has become a critical challenge.

One of my recent observations is that many startups seem to be solving similar problems, often using different (and vague!) terminology to describe identical solutions.

Your message must be clear and consistent across all contexts, whether you are speaking to potential investors, customers or team members. Make sure everyone in your team communicates the same vision.

I once witnessed a pitch for an AI-powered analytics platform that had the potential to redefine how businesses predicted market trends. According to the pitch, it was fast, intuitive and incredibly accurate.

The problem was that the delivery fell flat. The pitch went like this: “So, uh, it’s basically an AI that analyses your data and gives you insights, like, really fast. It looks at patterns and, you know, helps you make better decisions. And it’s all in the cloud, so it’s super scalable.”

That was it. No mention of predictive analytics, no use case examples, no clear differentiation from competitors. Investors were left confused. Was this a data visualisation tool? A competitor to existing BI platforms? Something entirely new?

It is a hard lesson: even the most brilliant product will struggle to gain traction if you cannot articulate its value. Sometimes this happens when early-stage founders delegate too much responsibility for messaging without fully understanding their own positioning. Consistent communication is key. If the founder cannot explain their product’s value in 30 seconds without jargon, neither can their customers or investors.

Final Thoughts

Think of focus as a skill to cultivate. It requires constant vigilance, strategic decision-making and the courage to say no to opportunities that do not align with your core vision.

While it is not a guaranteed formula for success — as many other factors are at play — my decades of experience with startups have convinced me of one thing: founders who maintain focus, and companies where focus runs like an invisible thread through every aspect of the business, are far more likely to succeed.

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