Definition
The venture capital strategy of seeking only investments with potential to return the entire fund, requiring massive exits. A portfolio approach that ignores solid doubles and triples in favor of swinging for nonexistent fences.
Example Usage
Their unicorn hunting strategy meant passing on profitable SaaS companies with modest exit potential in favor of moonshot consumer social plays.
Origin
Emerged alongside 'unicorn' terminology in the 2010s, describing the power law investment approach
Fun Fact
Unicorn hunting is mathematically justified by venture capital's power law returns, where a tiny percentage of investments generate most returns, but it also leads to massive amounts of deployed capital returning nothing.
Related Terms
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See “unicorn hunting” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.
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