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Uzone.id – Statistics show the number of new startups increasing year by year. Startup is a form of ambition and passion that merge into one. Building a startup has become the dream of many young people.
Businesses give the term “startup” to a company in development. Both in terms of product development, service, and business model.
If likened to the stage of human development, a startup is a young company that continues to grow. Only when they reach adulthood, maturity when everything is stable, can startups label themselves as companies.
Of the thousands of startups that began, perhaps not even half survived, and even fewer achieved great success. So, who are those successful startups? Here’s a list of the most successful startups in the last ten years.
Airbnb
Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk managed to turn their idea into a $31 billion company. Airbnb started from a simple idea where the three needed to earn a little extra money to pay the rent.
Initially, Gebbia and Chesky’s roommates couldn’t afford the rent in San Francisco. A big conference is approaching, making hotels harder and harder to find. And for some reason, Chesky suddenly got the idea to turn their attic into a bedroom.
They accept guests to stay at a low cost per night, even providing breakfast. Anyone can stay and they will get extra money to pay off the rent. After the arrival of their first guest, Gebbia and Chesky realize that they have discovered something bigger.
Assisted by Blecharczyk, the three began to develop this idea into a business. And of course, this idea was rejected by at least fifteen investors. Lack of experience when negotiating was the biggest factor in the defeat. Even Air Bed & Breakfast, as Airbnb was called at the time, went bankrupt.
In 2009, after they announced their new name, Airbnb finally received an initial investment of $600,000 from Sequoia Capital. This is the starting point where Airbnb has managed to grow rapidly. Two years later, Airbnb has a presence in 89 countries with 1 million nights booked on the platform.
In the same year, some of Silicon Valley’s largest VCs invested $112 million into the startup, bringing its value to more than $1 billion. That then made Airbnb a “unicorn” in Silicon Valley. However, this startup is not really stable yet.
Airbnb continues to face criticism from customers, criticism from the government, and continued public protests. Through acquisitions and innovations that continue to be launched, Airbnb has managed to survive. It wasn’t until September 2019 that Airbnb announced its plans to go public in 2020.
Uber
The initial idea for Uber began when two computer technicians couldn’t find a taxi on the streets of Paris. They are Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp. Initially, Camp wanted to focus on car services for the high end and professionals. However, Kalanick is only willing to join if what he is working on is only focused on the vehicle booking app.
In the end, the two agreed to found a startup called UberCab in San Francisco in 2009. Interestingly, this startup only received their first passengers in 2010. In the same year, UberCab, which was later renamed Uber, received their first capital investment of $1.25 million.
Even though it was in a difficult time due to the problem of Uber’s authority, it managed to grow rapidly. The company aggressively set up offices around the world, and successfully pushed their valuation from $60 million in 2011 to $82 billion at its IPO just eight years later.
From this well-executed experience, Uber has now become the most valuable startup in the world. In early 2025 alone, exactly 16 years after its launch, Uber reached a market capitalization of $166 billion.
SpaceX
Young Elon Musk has ambitions to build his own rocket. So, in 2001, he began to realize his dream by founding SpaceX. Interestingly, a Russian rocket designer spat on Elon’s shoes, further fueling his ambitions.
Offended Elon Musk then decided to start his own rocket company to compete with Russia, and of course prove himself. Four years later, Musk actually created his first rocket. The rocket was named Falcon 1.
The Falcon 1 is a two-stage disposable launch vehicle into orbit that cost about $100 million to build. They took the name Falcon as a tribute to the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars.
However, Musk also often encounters failures. Throughout 2006 to 2008, SpaceX experienced three failed launch attempts. At that time, SpaceX was really on the verge of bankruptcy.
In a critical situation, SpaceX’s fourth flight really should be a success. This is the last chance or they will actually face bankruptcy. And the Falcon 1 really managed to do that. Unfortunately, it was the last time the Falcon 1 was active before retiring in 2009.
From the Falcon 1, SpaceX then created the Dragon spacecraft that successfully reached the International Space Station in 2012. However, the company had to face its second major setback in 2015 when the Falcon 9 exploded two minutes into the flight.
Only later in 2020 did SpaceX reach an important milestone by bringing human spaceflight back to the U.S. for the first time in years.
