⏮️April's Highlights Across Startups, VC, Data & AI
Content, Research, Reports, Podcasts, Events, Jobs & More
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Welcome to our monthly wrap-up episode where we cover April’s most relevant content at the intersection of startups, VC, data & AI.
We read it all so you don’t need to - here we go👇
INTERESTING RESEARCH & REPORTS📈
Where Unicorn Founders Come From
Stanford GSB’s Ilya Strebulaev analyzed 2,791 founders across 1,110 U.S.-based VC-backed unicorns to uncover the most common professional origins (and a few surprising ones) behind billion-dollar startups:
Academic & Military Hubs: Stanford and MIT dominate the educational backgrounds, while alumni of Israel’s IDF are 3x more likely to build unicorns than the average U.S. founder.
Prior Startup Experience: 40% of unicorn founders had previously launched a startup, giving them a repeat-founder advantage in venture growth.
Research Labs: 25% of unicorn founders came from scientific research or tech development roles, highlighting that deep R&D backgrounds can be just as valuable as startup hustle.
✈️ KEY TAKEAWAYS
Elite schools and military service aren’t the only pipelines to unicorn status—experience in research and tech development plays an underrated but significant role in startup success.
The 2025 Liquidity Puzzle
Jackie DiMonte’s latest analysis dives into whether 2025 could finally spark a liquidity wave amid years of muted exit values and locked capital. The article lays out a compelling data breakdown to question if we’re seeing the start of a sustained surge in liquidity or merely a small trickle.
Capital Lock-Up: Three years of depressed exit values echo early 2010s levels, even though a surge of capital flowed during 2020–2022, resulting in over 800 unicorns still waiting for an exit.
IPO Activity Surge: Data from the Forge Tech IPO Calendar shows over 30 companies have either filed or announced IPOs, representing up to $167B in last private market value, with S1 filings around $33B, confidential filings at $48B, and announced deals topping $86B.
Acquisitions & Exit Trends: Notably, Google’s recent $32B acquisition of Wiz underscores a broader trend where acquisitions are trending upward, making up 40% of last year’s total and hinting at a potential rebound in overall exit value.
✈️ KEY TAKEAWAYS
The article suggests that despite years of tepid exit activity and significant capital still locked up, the surge in IPO filings and strategic acquisitions might signal the early stages of a liquidity wave, though the scale remains uncertain.