Coronavirus has struck at a time when many of the world's 450-odd unicorns were looking ropy
of how covid-19 is affecting the world’s technology “unicorns”, as privately held firms worth $1bn or more have come to be known, consider two of them. Lime, a scooter-rental firm valued at $2.4bn, has halted its services in Europe and America, where most citizens have been told to stay off the streets. DoorDash, a $13bn food-delivery company, has suddenly found itself useful to a self-isolating society as a whole, not just couch potatoes; deliveries have surged.
The unicorn reality check was under way before America declared a national state of emergency over covid-19 on March 13th. Venture capitalists reckoned that a third of American unicorns would thrive, a third would disappoint and a third would be taken over or die. As investors the world over scurry to safe assets amid a market meltdown, Mr Khosrowshahi’s prediction may come true faster than he thought. Some discern an echo of the dotcom bubble, which burst 20 years ago. Others are more sanguine.
The coronavirus shock comes at a time when most tech unicorns were already exhibiting underlying health problems. Some, most notoriously WeWork, never really deserved the label in the first place. Their businesses had at best a tenuous claim to techiness—and so to the “flywheel” effect behind the likes of Amazon or Facebook, in which a large user base makes them more attractive to more users, and so on.
No network effects means lower barriers to entry for rivals. The flywheel breaks down because riders have no reason to favour an Uber over a Lyft. Most will go for whichever is cheaper—which leads both firms to fight for customers with cut-price rides subsidised by theirbackers’ cash. In the words of Marco Zappacosta, co-founder of Thumbtack, a local-services marketplace, “Some companies ended up selling $1 for 80 cents.”firm, offers an alternative rule of thumb.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
Want to Know Why Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fall 1995 Collection The Best Show Ever? Watch This VideoWe're kicking off our new video series, BestShowEver, with JPGaultier’s Cyber collection of fall 1995. See why here.
Leer más »
Want to Know Why Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fall 1995 Collection Is the Best Show Ever? Watch This VideoWant to know why JPGaultier's fall 1995 collection was the best show ever? Watch this video.
Leer más »
Biotechnology, Fashion Collide in Partnership for Antimicrobial PPEChargeurs Fashion Technologies and Noble Biomaterials created an antimicrobial mask for health-care industry workers.
Leer más »
Can mobile phone data help curb contagion?On our “Babbage” science and technology podcast: - Using cellphone data to fight pandemics - Can telecommunication networks cope with a world working from home? - larrybrilliant, an epidemiologist who helped defeat smallpox, on covid-19
Leer más »
YouTube is developing a rival to TikTokYouTube is developing a short-form video feature called Shorts that will go head to head with TikTok, according to NBC News.
Leer más »
Stocks Plunge To Start Second Quarter As U.S. Tops 200,000 Coronavirus CasesThe stock market plunged today, marking a dismal start to the second quarter as coronavirus continued to take a toll on the economy, and a slate of bad news related to the pandemic caused concern on Wall Street by skleb1234
Leer más »