We are fixated on unicorns. Brands that experience rapid growth and get acquired for some crazy revenue multiple. It is the exalted “exit.” Forget unicorns; give me tardigrades. Unicorns are mythical, one in a million, a game of roulette. Tardigrades are resilient and are far more self-determined.
Our obsession with the unicorn does us such a disservice. It forces founders to jump onto the fundraising hamster wheel. We build brands that are hungry ghosts with big bellies and tiny mouths. Brands that are insatiably hungry for more capital, and when you look closely, many don’t qualify as actual businesses with viable economic models.
Granted, my personal bias may cloud me, but we place far too much emphasis on brands with hockey stick trajectories and adopt a “grow at all cost” mentality. There are times when this approach might make sense. For instance, when you have something genuinely revolutionary or disruptive. Where first to market means everything. For most, even though we might think what we’ve created is unique, it is unlikely that it’s so differentiated it warrants chasing unicorns.
What I find exciting are tardigrades. These are nimble, capital-efficient, resilient businesses that can scale. A tardigrade, a water bear, is a micro-animal, one of the world’s most adaptive, resilient creatures. They can withstand temperatures as low as -328 degrees Fahrenheit and as high as 300 degrees. When things get tough, they can go into cryptobiosis, reducing their metabolic rate to 0.01% of normal, living up to 30 years without food or water. Needless to say, these little micro-dudes are tough. Those are the businesses I want to celebrate and help build.
This past year has pulled the veil from our eyes and accelerated changes long in coming. Businesses need to plan on going further with less than ever before. They will need to get closer to where the problem being solved is most pronounced, or the need being filled is most acute. Brick-and-mortar retail can’t be the primary point for discovery and trial anymore. The economics won’t allow it.
Tardigrade businesses have small, nimble teams, low overheads, and flexible supply chains. They own the consumer journey, building a robust and evangelical tribe with whom they’ve established a real relationship. They take a curated approach to retail, only going into those locations where they can succeed. Alternative channels such as corporate campuses, colleges/universities, and airports are leveraged to drive discovery. Influencers become more than online celebrities. They are physical locations such as yoga studios, naturopathic offices, etc., located in key target markets.
Tardigrades are highly adaptive and resilient companies that put profit before growth and cash before everything. If necessary, when the sh$t hits the fan, they quickly curl into cryptobiosis to survive. For them, capital-efficiency is the new velocity. There is no hamster wheel, and they are beholden to no one. What tardigrade founders build are cool brands, innovative products, and sustainable businesses. The tardigrade, not the unicorn, is the future of this industry.
Over the following weeks. I will go into more detail about the traits of a tardigrade business model. I’ve identified ten key traits:
- Capital efficiency.
- A well-crafted growth hypothesis
- A growth hack mindset
- Investment readiness
- Optimizing the shopper continuum
- Discipline
- Nimbleness
- Accountability
- Community
- Resilience
Tardigrades are the future, and you can stop chasing unicorns now. It does not matter if you are a million-dollar or a one-hundred-million-dollar business. It is never too late to be a tardigrade. There is more to come, and if you can’t wait, feel free to reach out.
