You can’t have the best without also having the worst. There are some places in the world that you should avoid as a budding entrepreneur. Stay away from these innovation deadzones like the plague, unless futility and frustration are your thing.
Pyongyang, North Korea
Innovation through annihilation.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Pride Rock after Scar took over.
Omaha, Nebraska
Unless you think steaks are innovative, not much happening here.
Redneck Riviera, The Gulf Coast, USA
Decades of cousins marrying cousins has depleted the IQ level.
Kentucky, USA
Ditto moonshine, which is a plenty. Venture Capital, there ain’t any.
Zurich, Switzerland
Only the Swiss can make the Germans look loose.
Kabul, Afghanistan
Seventh-century “cutting edge” technology: yes; innovation: no.
Havana, Cuba
Good cohibas, mojitos, but no “ideos.”
Montana, USA
Big sky, idea dry.
New Jersey USA
Murder, extortion, and racketeering are a buzzkill for entrepreneurs.
Jamaica
Good rum, good sun, good fun, innovation none.
The biggest hits, biggest failures, and the investors that hit the jackpot or lost the pot—these are the Unicorns and Uniscorns.
Alibaba China’s Amazon; had the largest IPO to date; one of the few of Yahoo!’s hits, as a VC, now worth over $230B.
Biggest winners: SoftBank, Yahoo!
Google The Search Engine that could; now a platform that knows more about you than you know about yourself, now worth over $550B.
Biggest winners: Sequoia, Michael Moritz, John Doerr (Kleiner Perkins)
Facebook The world’s largest country with 1.7 billion “citizens,” from $100 million Series A to $350+ billion market cap.
Biggest winners: Jim Breyer (Accel), Peter Thiel
WhatsApp Acquired by Facebook for a stunning $19 billion only two years after it launched.
Biggest winners: Jim Goetz (Sequoia)
Airbnb Allows anyone to rent out their bedroom with the hope that their guest is not a serial killer, worth over $25B.
Biggest winner: Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz
Dropbox Online file storage company, valued at $23 million Series A, now worth over $10 billion.
Biggest winner: Bryan Schreier (Sequoia)
Uber The fastest-growing company in the history of technology, every cab driver’s worst enemy. Valued at $60 million Series A, now worth over $60 billion.
Biggest winner: Bill Gurley (Benchmark)
Apple When the iPod first came out, Apple’s shares were $1; now Apple’s worth over $600B.
Biggest winner: Not Dell, whose namesake and chairman stated that he’d shut Apple down if he were Steve Jobs in 1997.
NEA, Sequoia, Arthur Rock
Amazon Huge e-commerce website, driven by its powerful AWS platform. Early valuation was $60M after angel round, now the company’s worth over $350B.
Biggest winner: Kleiner Perkins, Jeff Bezos
YouTube World’s largest video platform, now worth over $80 billion.
Biggest winner: Sequoia
Webvan First Uniscorn, billion-dollar idea that went up in smoke.
Biggest loser: Sequoia, Softbank
Pets.com Typical order $30, cost to deliver $50, what’s wrong with the model?
Biggest loser: Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
Kozmo Largest delivery fleet with no minimum purchase. Great for those who want a candy bar delivered to their front door.
Biggest loser: Amazon, Chase
Friendster Facebook before Zuck graduated from high school, network highjacked by Filipino housewives.
Biggest loser: Benchmark, Kleiner Perkins, Battery
Solyndra Permanently and forever taking Uncle Sam out of the VC business
Biggest loser: U.S. Department of Energy
Pay By Touch Biometrics = bye bye money
Biggest loser: Mobius Venture Capital
Boo.com British Internet company found by Swedes, who earned their domain name.
Biggest loser: Goldman Sachs, Amazon, Bernard Arnault
eToys Great idea if toddlers were on the Internet and had credit cards.
Biggest loser: Intel, Sequoia
Better Place $800 million vanished, bankruptcy put investors out of misery and in a better place.
Biggest loser: GE, Morgan Stanley, VantagePoint
CueCat Backed by RadioShack, two wrongs don’t make a right.
Biggest loser: RadioShack, but begs the question, if you’re already lost, can you lose?