Russia is doing just fine without unicorns. She leads or is one of the world leaders in space tech and military tech, which are at the cutting edge. Many game-changing innovations have their roots in military investments. Soft tech unicorn is overrated. Most are easily replicated. Ok, so you’re the first Netflix. The US has/had a lead in content streaming because of it. So, what? You’re the first blockchain. So what? A lead in hard tech is much more valuable. Battery technology, material designs, propulsion systems, manufacturing tools, etc. Even the more valuable soft tech are those that interface and interact with the real world, such as computer vision and robotics. Hard tech is really the “harder” field, compared to soft tech — it actually deals with physical constraints. What would happen to the real economy if Facebook didn’t exist? What would happen if CATL or BYD didn’t exist? Until we are all plugged in and live in the metaverse 24/7, hard tech is what really matters. Also, an abundance of unicorns could mean rampant speculation and severe misallocation of funds.
Russia is doing just fine without unicorns. She leads or is one of the world leaders in space tech and military tech, which are at the cutting edge. Many game-changing innovations have their roots in military investments. Soft tech unicorn is overrated. Most are easily replicated. Ok, so you’re the first Netflix. The US has/had a lead in content streaming because of it. So, what? You’re the first blockchain. So what? A lead in hard tech is much more valuable. Battery technology, material designs, propulsion systems, manufacturing tools, etc. Even the more valuable soft tech are those that interface and interact with the real world, such as computer vision and robotics. Hard tech is really the “harder” field, compared to soft tech — it actually deals with physical constraints. What would happen to the real economy if Facebook didn’t exist? What would happen if CATL or BYD didn’t exist? Until we are all plugged in and live in the metaverse 24/7, hard tech is what really matters. Also, an abundance of unicorns could mean rampant speculation and severe misallocation of funds.