The beasts within: Meet the animals in the startup zoo

Most of my weekday afternoons as a child were spent huddled in the living room with my brothers, watching shows like Dora the Explorer, Sesame Street, and Pokémon. And what these programs had in common was their ability to get young viewers shouting at the television, as if the cartoon characters, costumed actors, and disembodied voices on screen could hear us.

Some of my favorite moments were during the “Who’s That Pokémon?” mid-program segment, when my brothers and I had to guess which of the 151 adorable monsters’ silhouettes was up on screen. Back then, it was the highlight of my day to be able to distinguish Pikachu from Squirtle.

These days, I find myself in a slightly similar situation, especially during our many pitch battle events. That’s because I try to guess which early-stage startup has the potential to become a unicorn, which companies will stand the test of time to become a phoenix, and which businesses will return their investors enough money to be considered a dragon.

Can you guess which of these silhouettes is the unicorn?

This fun little activity that goes on in my head is actually what many venture capitalists do for a living. In their interactions with startups, they often have to assess whether a potential investment can turn into a billion-dollar business or if the venture they’re injecting capital into is something that will last.

Of course, investors take a lot more into consideration than I did as a kid watching the telly. A significant amount of work goes into turning a simple startup idea into a business that can be tagged as one of those mythical beasts.

If you’re curious about why some companies are called a unicorn, how different they are from rhinoceroses, and what the heck a dragon that doesn’t fly or breathe fire (or ice) is, then you might find our latest episode of Tech in Asia Explains interesting.

In Tech in Asia Explains: The Startup Zoo, Asia Partners managing partner Nick Nash and RedDoorz founder Amit Saberwal take on the role of zoologists, talking viewers through the various “animal exhibits” in the startup ecosystem.

In the video, we discuss the characteristics of numerous animals, from legendary unicorns, dragons, and phoenixes to the closer-to-real-life zebras and rhinoceroses, and why we’ve come to associate certain businesses with these creatures’ names in the first place.

For those who enjoyed spending weekday afternoons distinguishing Charizards from Dragonites, you might have a good time visiting the startup zoo, too.

As for me, I’m going to try and convince our product team to develop a Startup Zoo Go mobile game.