Unicorns Gone Wild

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• CrunchBase a sister company of TechCrunch has created a wonderful, information packed article with multiple visualizations.
  
  
  CrunchBase has released a unicorn leaderboard, it includes detailed and interactive visualizations on which companies have reach a billion dollar valuation. It also includes the companies that have fallen below the billion dollar mark. And ones that are hot and nearly at a billion!
  It appears to be a visualization created with complete, unaltered data set complemented with a nearly perfect data-ink ratio.
  
  
  An interesting part of this visualization is the major jump one can see after 2008. From 2005-2008 Facebook and LinkedIn were alone as billion dollar players. However, after 2008 there is a steep and exciting climb in numbers, as new players enter the range. 
  
  
  The visualization is very current, and as of September 16, 2015 when it was uploaded, a total of 144 operating unicorns can be viewed. 
  
  
  CrunchBase has done an excellent job with this particular visualization because the numbers of unicorns, and the exponential growth of them can be very stimulating for an entrepreneurial or tech minded viewer. 
  
  
  As a dedicated marketing student, I have my own entrepreneurial aspirations. It is very motivating viewing visualizations revealing statistics on how international tech businesses are growing.
  
  
  Another important aspect of this visualization is the leading investor visualizations, which Sequoia Capital dominates with 75 investments in 26 different unicorns. 
  
  
  Two companies which I personally interacted with in the last year, are also new to the list. It is exciting to see BlaBlaCar.com a ride sharing platform from France, helped my brother and I get from Zurich, Switzerland to Delft, Netherlands this summer.  And shopify.com an e-commerce company whom I interviewed with last week! 
  
  
  
  
  With start-ups and tech business growing exponentially worldwide, it would be very interesting to see data from this chart used in a world map. By pinpointing where unicorns are located around the world the data may appeal to an international crowd.
  Colours were used minimally and tastefully on the charts to promote clarity and differentiation between years. 
  
  
  
  
  An issue has to do with the interactive quality of the chart. When I would run my mouse over one of the bars that measures unicorns by quarter, the pop-up box would have some of its data cut out, and one is unable to scroll through the list. Although it did function correctly at times, the problem seems to be persistent yet fixable. A usability issue like this can cause a viewer to easily lose patience with the visualization and disregard it. Try it here.
  
  

• The visualization does provide links to specific company profiles which include company details, recent activity, funding rounds, investors, and acquisitions for further reading. However, by providing links to all of the specific companies listed, the visualization would be more interactive and informative. 
  The visualization does do a good job of explaining the data clearly. New entries, exits, and a cumulative count is well laid out for the user. 
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• The entrepreneurial landscape is hot, and with booming tech companies raising capital like never before, it is important that business people new and old, stay aware of major players changing the industry and the world. 
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• By Graham Smith