Summary
We live in a world of unicorns. From hailing taxis to ordering pizza to renting a holiday home, the world has come to rely on huge tech startups known in Silicon Valley as unicorns. But in a post-pandemic world, can these mythical beasts survive?
In tech lingo, a unicorn is a rare start-up company valued at $1 billion dollars or more in private markets. Five years ago there were fewer than 50. Today there are over 400, including Airbnb, Uber and Deliveroo. Often created by eccentric founders and funded by evangelical venture capital backers with deep pockets, these companies have come to define our digital age while creating unimaginable riches for their investors.
But with many enduring eye-watering losses even before the pandemic, and with big question marks hanging over their long term viability, is the magic dust finally coming off?
Elaine Moore is a tech columnist at the Financial Times based in San Francisco - home of the tech unicorn. She's on a mission to find out what the future holds for the industry and what it could mean for us next time we take a taxi or order in a Friday night curry.
Presenter: Elaine Moore Producer: Craig Templeton Smith Editor: Jasper Corbett
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.6 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.4 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable |
| 0:14.3 | experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC |
| 0:20.4 | makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | BBC Sounds. |
| 0:38.0 | BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts. |
| 0:41.0 | Hello, thanks for listening to this edition of Analysis, the podcast. podcasts. I'm the producer of this edition and over the next half an hour we'll be focusing on |
| 0:54.1 | unicorns, not the mythical beasts but an exclusive group of startups valued at more than |
| 1:00.0 | one billion dollars. These are companies which have helped build the modern world, |
| 1:05.0 | change the way we move around, eat and go on holiday. But with spending making |
| 1:09.9 | eye-watering losses, can these unicons survive in a post-pandemic world? |
| 1:15.0 | Feeling hungry? |
| 1:20.0 | Deliberu, here to deliver. |
| 1:22.0 | Perhaps you need somewhere to stay. |
| 1:24.2 | Belong anywhere with AirB&B. |
| 1:27.5 | Or an office to rent. |
| 1:29.1 | Learn more about joining the community by visiting We Work.com. If so there's a possibility that you've |
| 1:36.1 | hired a unicorn to do the job. Welcome to the frothy world of billion dollar startups. |
| 1:45.0 | It's like a night out. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.