Chasing Unicorns
Analysis16 Marras 2020

Chasing Unicorns

We live in a world of unicorns. From hailing taxis to ordering pizza to renting a holiday home, the world has come to rely on huge tech startups known in Silicon Valley as unicorns. But in a post-pandemic world, can these mythical beasts survive?

In tech lingo, a unicorn is a rare start-up company valued at $1 billion dollars or more in private markets. Five years ago there were fewer than 50. Today there are over 400, including Airbnb, Uber and Deliveroo. Often created by eccentric founders and funded by evangelical venture capital backers with deep pockets, these companies have come to define our digital age while creating unimaginable riches for their investors.

But with many enduring eye-watering losses even before the pandemic, and with big question marks hanging over their long term viability, is the magic dust finally coming off?

Elaine Moore is a tech columnist at the Financial Times based in San Francisco - home of the tech unicorn. She's on a mission to find out what the future holds for the industry and what it could mean for us next time we take a taxi or order in a Friday night curry.

Presenter: Elaine Moore Producer: Craig Templeton Smith Editor: Jasper Corbett

Jaksot(389)

Has economic crisis put net-zero plans on the backburner?

Has economic crisis put net-zero plans on the backburner?

The UK has pledged to reach net-zero by 2050. But has a pandemic, the fallout from the war in Ukraine and now an economic crisis derailed our plans to decarbonise? Or have they provided an inflexion p...

13 Helmi 202328min

Blaenau Ffestiniog and the Foundational Economy

Blaenau Ffestiniog and the Foundational Economy

In the search for stability and growth, policy and debate often focuses on looking for multi-million pound inward investment, or industries with big ideas such as technology and manufacturing. But the...

6 Helmi 202328min

Can we ever really tackle rising public spending?

Can we ever really tackle rising public spending?

Last week, the government unveiled around £30bn worth of cuts to public services as it attempts to plug a fiscal hole. Governments have attempted to rein in spending in the past and struggled to do so...

21 Marras 202228min

Why do we assume women care?

Why do we assume women care?

In spite of progress on men's involvement in childcare the statistics show that women are still doing far more caring of young children. That is extended throughout life to the caring of ill and elder...

14 Marras 202228min

Economic Growth - can we ever have enough?

Economic Growth - can we ever have enough?

As the twin storms of economic turmoil and worsening climate change grip the UK and many other countries around the world, Analysis examines the future of economic growth. Does it offer a route out of...

7 Marras 202228min

Is 'Political Blackness' gone for good?

Is 'Political Blackness' gone for good?

Over the decades, a string of umbrella terms and acronyms have been used in the UK to describe people who aren’t white. “Politically Black”, Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME), ethnic minorities...

31 Loka 202227min

Can Effective Altruism really change the world?

Can Effective Altruism really change the world?

If you want to do good in the world, should you be a doctor, or an aid worker? Or should you make a billion or two any way you can, and give it to good causes? Billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried argues thi...

24 Loka 202228min

How Xi Jinping did it

How Xi Jinping did it

Just over a decade ago, President Xi Jinping was a virtual unknown. Few would say that now. In ten years, he’s reworked the Chinese Communist party, the military and the government so that he’s firmly...

17 Loka 202229min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

aikalisa
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
tervo-halme
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
politiikan-puskaradio
viisupodi
rss-podme-livebox
otetaan-yhdet
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
rss-asiastudio
rss-tasta-on-kyse-ivan-puopolo-verkkouutiset
rss-tekkipodi
io-techin-tekniikkapodcast
linda-maria
the-ulkopolitist
rss-polikulaari-humanisti-vastaa-ja-muut-ts-podcastit
rss-kaikki-uusiksi
rss-hyvaa-huomenta-bryssel
rss-merja-mahkan-rahat