Lessons from the fastest Brazilian unicorn

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the process of why a Brazilian digital startup company reached unicorn status the fastest. Design/methodology/approach – After the literature review, the authors conducted the questionnaire containing 13 questions used in 18 in-depth interviews conducted in the case study. Saturation point combined with the independent and in-depth analysis of the researchers is used to achieve internal and external validity. The primary data collected underwent an analytical approach, followed by a resource-based view (RBV). RBV does not deal with time. There is a gap in the literature and an opportunity here: to analyze the fastest company to become a unicorn under the RBV lens. Findings – The case reveals that value can be found in traditional sectors, as is the case of the real estate sector. This is a case of a company in the direct home-buying space. Practical implications – The contribution of this paper is both practical, with the seven lessons, and theoretical. Resources allocated to a specific context in a specific geographic region shift the attention away from the absolute value of resources to the timing of aggregating them. Thus, the contribution accounting for time is new to the RBV. Originality/value – The originality lies in the analysis of the dynamics of digital businesses with exponential growth.

Keywords

• Digital entrepreneurship
• Innovation
• Case study
• Startup
• Unicorns
• RBV