Behind the Scenes of Building Unicorns

By Elke Porter | WBN News Vancouver | June 2, 2025
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Web Summit Vancouver brought together global tech leaders, founders, and investors for raw conversations about what it truly takes to scale a company from startup to unicorn status. One standout session, “What it really takes to build a living unicorn,” featured three influential speakers who peeled back the glossy success stories to reveal the grit, sacrifice, and unrelenting vision behind billion-dollar businesses.

Arvind Jain, co-founder of Rubrik and now CEO of Glean, shared how rapid success often comes at the cost of personal comfort. After helping grow Rubrik into a unicorn, Jain left in 2019 to launch Glean—an AI-powered enterprise search tool—because he found productivity waning in larger organizations. His journey underscores a hard truth: staying nimble and focused is as important as scaling.

Kyle Hanslovan, CEO of Huntress, echoed similar themes. A cybersecurity startup founder with military intelligence roots, Hanslovan revealed he once slept in his car and faced endless rejection. But by securing over $300 million in venture capital and staying obsessed with solving real-world threats for small businesses, Huntress became a standout in the cybersecurity sector.

The session was moderated by Pablo Srugo, Partner at Canadian seed-stage firm Mistral and host of the Product Market Fit Show, a top 1% podcast diving deep into the 0-to-1 startup journey. Srugo emphasized that unicorn-building requires “extreme conviction, an unfair insight, and relentless resilience.”

Together, the trio challenged the audience to rethink the unicorn myth. It’s not just about raising capital or explosive growth; it’s about deep industry insight, brutal persistence, and building a culture that can handle chaos.

💼 Vocabulary of Investing – A Beginner’s Guide to Startup Finance

If you're stepping into the world of startups or simply want to understand what goes into building a unicorn like Glean or Huntress, here’s a quick primer on key investing terms:

1. Unicorn
A startup valued at $1 billion or more while still privately held.

2. Seed-Stage
The first formal round of funding, typically from angel investors or seed-stage VC firms like Mistral.

3. Venture Capital (VC)
Money invested in startups with high growth potential in exchange for equity. Often comes in series: Seed, Series A, B, C, etc.

4. Product-Market Fit
The moment when your product satisfies a strong market demand—essential for scaling.

5. Equity
Ownership stake in a company, often given to investors or employees in exchange for funding or services.

6. Burn Rate
The rate at which a startup spends its capital. A high burn rate with no revenue is risky without solid backing.

7. Exit
When a startup is acquired or goes public (IPO), providing returns to investors.

8. Valuation
The market value of a startup, often based on revenue projections, market potential, and investor sentiment.

9. Cap Table
A capitalization table showing who owns how much of the company.

10. Term Sheet
A non-binding agreement outlining the terms of an investment.

#Unicorn #Seed-Stage #Venture Capital #Product Market Fit #Build Equity #Burn Rate #Valuation #Cap Table #Term Sheet #WBN News Vancouver #Elke Porter

Connect with Elke at Westcoast German Media or on LinkedIn: Elke Porter or contact her on WhatsApp:  +1 604 828 8788