World’s most promising startups hitting the billion dollar mark also known as ‘unicorns’ are projected to be the future of the employment industry. The term ‘unicorn’ has become widely used to refer to startups in the technology, mobile technology and information technology sectors (usually at the intersection of all three). Those that do reach the $1 billion mark are so rare that finding one is as difficult as finding a unicorn.The largest unicorns include Uber , Xiaomi , Airbnb , Palantir , Snapchat , Dropbox and Pinterest with Uber’s estimated worth at worth $62.5 billion as of late 2015.
While Fortune and Forbes continue to publish lists of such billion dollar startups with more and more joining the club , sadly , Pakistan is yet to produce even the first of this category. Most of the startups emerging from the Pakistan are ideas with smaller scope not to mention technologically far behind most of the world’s most successful startups.
Efforts by some local and foreign mentors to uplift this industry may be commendable but certainly not enough. Government unfortunately has failed to provide support and play it’s part till now causing the chasm between the local and international startup industry to increase.
Reasons for this lag start from the root of the problem that is the current educational system which doesn’t equip individuals with enough skills to start something innovative in a job-oriented industry or be able to develop ideas with potential to grow.
Students in most cases are not aware of the market trends and where their idea can fit inside the overall bigger picture. This approach results in a huge vacuum between education and the startup industry –there are efforts to fill in this gap by various incubators , accelerators and crowdfunding platforms which currently only benefit a tiny fraction of the population that needs to be guided.
Government , banks and other financial institutions show reluctance investing in startups and then there are problems with the guidance and funding provided by incubators which in most cases binds people to meet certain criterion or alter the course of their plan-this leaves many not opting for financial aid by these sources.
Even if the financial requirements are fulfilled another major issue that remains is lack of patent and copyright laws and their enforcement causing many amazing discoveries to leave Pakistan and register elsewhere .This results in a bad impact on the local startup industry both financially and psychologically.
Even the originator of the term “unicorn” agrees that this label is imperfect . Unlike unicorns ,billion dollar startups do exist and continue to grow in number but the term appeals to us because it means something extremely rare, and magical. As more startups take on the “unicorn” label, they might seem less enchanting. And they’re increasingly getting gobbled up by other tech firms willing to spend billions, it’s only about time Pakistan jumps to the opportunity while the terms still exists instead of sitting on the benches just watching.
No Comment Found