Don't chase the equity story, build a company

A Unicorn's story is always intriguing and inspiring.  Both for entrepreneurs and investors.   While ambition to be build a unicorn is commendable, the challenge can distract an entrepreneur from building a company to chasing an equity story.  This results in losing focus on the core aspects of the business, creating unrealistic valuation expectations, and ultimately a cash-strapped company that is more likely to fail.  The alternative is to focus on the product, sales, and beating the competition, which lead to solid unique selling propositions, an attractive product, and realistic growth expectations founded on actual sales. 

Stephan Schubert, bio here, founder and managing director of STS Ventures gives great insight on this matter in the podcast below, recorded by Most Awesome Founder Podcast where he sheds light on what STS looks for.  I think the podcast offers great lessons for both founders and investors of all sizes.