Most Successful Startups of all time – the story behind their success.
Welcome back readers for another very impressive topic of discourse. Today we will be discussing something that has been in vogue lately, yes you thought it right it’s about the Most Successful Startups of all time. Startups are a great way to turn your passion into a profession, but not all passionately planned business ideas are a great success, it takes a lot more than just having an idea for any startup to flourish. So, what made them think differently in the first place? One might wonder. Here, we present to you a list of some highly famous and Most Successful Startups of all time and the tale behind their success.
Top 5 Most Successful Startups:
1. Uber
This global ride-sharing company was founded in 2009 and disrupted the entire modern transportation system. The idea was developed by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp one night when they were unable to find a cab while returning from a conference. It went public, 10 years after its establishment in May 2019 and has been growing quickly to become the world’s most successful startups of all time.
It hasn’t been a smooth ride so far but still for several years, the founder, Travis Kalanick was recognized as one of the richest people in the world, with the weekly revenue of the company about $20 million. Though he had to resign in 2017 due to some allegations by employees regarding a hostile work environment.
The main aim of the company is to create an effortless pick and drop service for the passenger, who can find free drivers on their own and pay for them online. The company is starting to set its foot in some other profitable areas as well which includes thoughtful logistics – food delivery, postal services, and Courier transportation, etc.
2. Airbnb
Started in 2008 in San Francisco, California. It was originally founded by two roommates Brian Chesky and JoeGebbia who casually thought of purchasing an air mattress and putting it in their living room and turning it into a Bed and Breakfast. Who would have thought that as simple an idea as this could one day turn into a multimillion-dollar company?
However, it wasn’t an overnight success, it took the founders years to generate funding and even longer to transform the idea into practical use and start covering the cost. Today, Airbnb is worth $3.4 billion (approx). The services of the company have been presently used by more than 11 million people in the entire world.
Airbnb shows us that it takes time to turn great ideas into success and all that patience is worth the wait. With persistence, innovation, and scalability, Airbnb has made extraordinary strides to become the most successful startup that it is today.
3. Square
The company was founded in 2009 by Jim McKelvey and Jack Dorsey who by the way still runs the company to this day. Square is a commerce ecosystem that provides financial services and digital payment methods, which was first launched in 2010. It allows all merchants to accept mobile credit card payments via a plastic dongle that can be inserted into the port of any phone.
Square launched the Cash app, which is a peer-to-peer payment service albeit it is just one part of Square’s business abilities. Like many startups, Square was also developed to solve small problems only but still behind all those problems the main motive of the company was to reduce friction for customers by making financial interactions as simple as possible.
Since 2015, it has been traded as a public company in the New York Stock Exchange with SQ as its ticker symbol. Moreover, as of 2021, the market capitalization of Square is valued at over US $105.59 billion. All in all, Square is an innovative fintech stock with impressive earnings and user-friendly payment processing methods making it one of the most successful startups of all time.
4. WhatsApp
WhatsApp is the brainchild of two former Yahoo employees, Jan Koum and Brian Acton. Though they have made many people addicted to WhatsApp now, it didn’t start as smoothly as it sounds initially.
Once realizing the potential of the app industry on the App store Koum and Acton decided to start their messaging app that could replace SMS. They began making an app that could show people’s status next to the individual name.
After months of running tests, Whatsapp was officially launched in November 2009, exclusively at the App Store for iPhone. In 2014 Facebook Inc. announced that it will be acquiring WhatsApp for US$ 19 billion, its largest acquisition till that time.
The fact that Koum and Acton always wanted to develop an easy-going product rather than just a profit-making company is what made this simple idea a success. It’s startling that a messaging app generated a revenue of US$ 5 billion in the last year and thus making it on the list of the most successful startups of all time.
5. Flipkart
Flipkart is one of the prominent e-commerce firms that has gradually flourished in the market. Starting in 2007 within a confined two-bedroom apartment as an online books store has now expanded as one of the most successful startups of India. It is an inspiring example of the biggest companies based in India.
With headquarters residing in Bengaluru, Flipkart was founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. With e-commerce gradually revolutionizing the world of retail, Flipkart has expanded at a rapid rate, while steadily implementing various new categories of items in its collection.
Presently the company expedites over 150 million products across a variety of ranges. Flipkart has generated US$ 560.45 million via Walmart as a part of the US$ 1.2 billion round it announced in July. Flipkart shows the huge potential of growth and rising exponentially in the coming years.
To know more about Sachin and Binny Bansal read-
Flipkart Success story of Sachin Bansal – inspiring Indian startups
To Conclude
Just by reading tons about the most successful startups is not enough, we need to understand the values behind these startups and learn from their mistakes. Because, if we look closely we will find the qualities that made them the huge success that they are today. We must realize that having a long-term vision is necessary for the growth of your startup, and with the right guidance and perseverance, anyone can achieve what successful startups had achieved.
