How many founders does it take to build a unicorn?

Since 2014, it’s become a funding Fantasia. 80% of total unicorns have been born in the last year, 27 of them in APAC alone. So, you want to build a billion-dollar startup too?

While there is no definitive recipe for success, the most important thing to get right is the founding team. Which begs the question, what does the composition of a unicorn-founding team look like?

After looking at CB Insights database of 138 unicorns and investigating the founding teams on CrunchBase, it seems that the make up of a founding unicorn team is more likely a result of cultural and behavioural tendencies, rather than a calculated choice.

Here’s 4 questions you should ask yourself in order to make a decision.

Where is the birthplace of your unicorn?

Without realizing it, there may be cultural nuances that influence the type of founder you are and how likely you are to co found with others. With ¾ of unicorns birthed in either the US or China it’s an interesting side-by-side comparison to see that Chinese founders are more likely to be solo-preneurs, compared to Americans who lean towards partnerships.

With the spotlight on Asia, founders in China also have the ability to scale faster; they reach the $1B mark 22% faster, and can attract 22% more funding, compared to American startups. Meanwhile, Europe tends to breed the most social startups, with founding teams being closer to 3 people on average.

Here is a look at the difference by region.

What kind of unicorn do you want to make?

Are you about to start a FinTech startup? If so, odds are that you have a lone wolf personality. FinTech is the only startup category to have an average founding team of <2 people. Maybe the lone wolf of Wall Street zeitgeist is crossing over into startup land.

Whatever the reason, there is definitely a trend between the type of unicorn and how many founders they attract. Unicorns that are more team-based are likely to be in Big Data, Healthcare and Mobile.

What gender is your unicorn?

The struggle is real for female founders to build a unicorn. Only 5% of all unicorn founders are women. Unfortunately, this is reflected by the figures we see in Asia as well — women represent only 5% of Singaporean startups, for example.

Founding what would is now a $9 billion healthcare startup at the age of 19, Elizabeth Holmes has become the poster girl for female founders in Silicon Valley. In Asia, that mantle needs to be held up by founders like Hooi Ling Tan, co-founder of Grab Taxi, and Melissa Yang, co founder of Tuija, who are the only 2 unicorn founders here. Female Founders, an initiative launched out of Singapore is also hoping to change this.

Should you really care?

The conventional wisdom spouted that a startup should consist of 2 founding members is true for our current unicorns. As of 25/09/15, the average unicorn consists of 2.2 founders.

But, the honest truth is that although the above trends do exist, there is no statistically significant correlation between founder team size and valuation, funding, time to reach unicorn status or even industry.

Although <13% have 4 or more founding members, there is a growing case for having a larger founding team. One successful example of that here in Asia is Xiaomi. Anchored by Lei Jun, Xiaomi has 8 co founders listed in TIA.

Just build a great team

If you are feeling that your founding team is missing a vital skill set, check out Founder2be.com — a startup themselves that helps you find the perfect co-founder.

In the end, an analysis of current unicorns only tells the story of what WAS successful, not what will be. So, the secret answer to “how many founders does it take to make a unicorn” is — however many you want!

Originally published at www.techinasia.com on October 1, 2015.