OCTOBER 20209Alibaba, for example, was just a small startup when the SARS epi-demic had hit China. Even as the vi-rus was spreading rapidly across the country, Alibaba employees contin-ued to work from home. It was also during the SARS outbreak when the Chinese tech giant launched its first consumer-facing platform Tao-bao, which would later become the world's largest retail online market-place. Alibaba's resilience in the face of adversity is a lesson for startups that challenges can be turned into opportunities if startups embrace agility, adaptability and innovation. More recently, in 2008, the world witnessed the emergence of a new-breed of technology-centric startups following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the subse-quent recession. WhatsApp, Insta-gram, Pinterest, Slack, Uber, Grou-pon, Venmo, and Square ­ the list goes on. In India, too, a series of high-value startups including Flip-kart, PolicyBaazar, Paytm, and Ola were launched during and after the global financial crisis of 2008. As we know, Flipkart, Paytm and Ola are all Unicorns with a valuation of more than $1 billion.Rise of New OpportunitiesBehavioural changes brought in by the pandemic are generating new opportunities across every sphere for entrepreneurs to showcase their innovation and modify their offer-ings to find the right product-mar-ket fit in the current environment. With people forced to stay indoors and make drastic adjustments to their everyday life, there is an in-creased demand for tech-based en-tertainment solutions, online gro-cery delivery, video conferencing tools, and EdTech platforms. Like-wise, as customers become more cautious about their health, person-al hygiene products such as hand sanitizers and disinfectant soaps are also witnessing soaring demand amidst the health emergency. In the healthcare segment, the supply-de-mand gap for personal protective equipment (PPE) kits is increasing. This is an opportunity for startups to capitalize and provide meaning-ful services that can help people adapt to the new normal, thereby creating a long-lasting impact on customers' minds. Separating the Wheat from The ChaffThousands of startups come up every year, out of which only a few make it beyond the first three years of inception and a negligible per-centage manage to gain the Unicorn status. Now, the question is ­ What makes a startup a potential Uni-corn? Multiple parameters, both ex-ternal and internal, come into play, including the economic setting, the demand for the product/service offered, and the founder's ability to weather unprecedented crises. In the current landscape, startups that can find their way around the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and offer scalable solu-tions to those challenges are poised for steady growth in the long-term. Focus on long-term growth instead of short-term opportunities ­ this is the key factor that will separate the wheat from the chaff ­ Unicorns from others. The coronavirus crisis has necessitated that startups be-come agile, dynamic and swift in their action ­ characteristics of a Unicorn startup. While it is impossible to gauge the long-term impact of this pan-demic, the future we visualize post-COVID is one where a group of startups will emerge stronger than they were before the pandemic struck. Whether it is in healthcare or deep-tech, these startups will lead the next wave of innovation and eventually make their way into the Unicorn club. The coronavirus crisis has necessitated that startups become agile, dynamic and swift in their actionDr.Apoorva Ranjan Sharma
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