Building a startup has never been easier. AI helps teams move faster, ship quicker, and test ideas at a pace that was impossible just a few years ago.
But building a lasting company, a business that can grow into a category leader, is harder than ever.
That's the tension at the heart of Unicorn Focus: The Key to Building Billion-Dollar Startups in the Age of AI, a new book by Igor Ryabenkiy, venture capitalist, serial entrepreneur, Founder and Managing Partner at AltaIR Capital. The book is based on years of close work with startup teams, both the ones that scaled and the ones that didn't.
"I'm not a unicorn founder myself. But I've spent years working closely with the founders who built unicorns and I’ve also seen how even very strong teams failed," Igor Ryabenkiy says.
"After thousands of conversations with founders, I started writing down the patterns I kept seeing. That work became the foundation of this book. It's not a checklist for success. But I believe that without these focus points, success is nearly impossible. Most early-stage startup failures aren’t about lack of talent or ambition. They happen because of lack of focus. This book is about how great founders lock in on the right problem, the right message, and the right motion."
The book offers a practical way to think about focus at the earliest stages of a company: how to decide what to build and what not to build, where to put your limited time, capital, and energy so it actually compounds.
Alongside his own stories, both successes and failures, Igor features insights and advice from founders he backed, including Andrey Khusid (Miro), Jonathan Siddharth (Turing), Songe LaRon (Squire), Natalie Gordon (Babylist), Nadav Shoval (OpenWeb), and Mikita Mikado (PandaDoc)—teams that scaled not by doing more, but by staying clear on what mattered most and saying no to distractions early.
But building a lasting company, a business that can grow into a category leader, is harder than ever.
That's the tension at the heart of Unicorn Focus: The Key to Building Billion-Dollar Startups in the Age of AI, a new book by Igor Ryabenkiy, venture capitalist, serial entrepreneur, Founder and Managing Partner at AltaIR Capital. The book is based on years of close work with startup teams, both the ones that scaled and the ones that didn't.
"I'm not a unicorn founder myself. But I've spent years working closely with the founders who built unicorns and I’ve also seen how even very strong teams failed," Igor Ryabenkiy says.
"After thousands of conversations with founders, I started writing down the patterns I kept seeing. That work became the foundation of this book. It's not a checklist for success. But I believe that without these focus points, success is nearly impossible. Most early-stage startup failures aren’t about lack of talent or ambition. They happen because of lack of focus. This book is about how great founders lock in on the right problem, the right message, and the right motion."
The book offers a practical way to think about focus at the earliest stages of a company: how to decide what to build and what not to build, where to put your limited time, capital, and energy so it actually compounds.
Alongside his own stories, both successes and failures, Igor features insights and advice from founders he backed, including Andrey Khusid (Miro), Jonathan Siddharth (Turing), Songe LaRon (Squire), Natalie Gordon (Babylist), Nadav Shoval (OpenWeb), and Mikita Mikado (PandaDoc)—teams that scaled not by doing more, but by staying clear on what mattered most and saying no to distractions early.
What founders and investors are saying
"Unicorns aren’t born from a single breakthrough or a brilliant idea. They’re built by founders who stay true to themselves, pivot as needed and execute with discipline. Igor’s book captures what it takes to build that kind of endurance".
– Alex Bouaziz, co-founder and CEO, Deel
"Working with Igor has always felt different because he thinks like a founder, not a financier. In an AI era where founders navigate countless options, his message is refreshingly simple: focus is one of the last unfair advantages left. This book is the operating manual for founders who want to play the long game and scale globally".
– Jonathan Siddharth, Founder and CEO, Turing
"The only rule worth following in startups is simple: solve a big problem, build reliable systems, stay tough when it gets hard. Igor’s book lays out that frame with rare clarity and practical depth".
– Dovi Frances, Founding Partner, Group 11
– Alex Bouaziz, co-founder and CEO, Deel
"Working with Igor has always felt different because he thinks like a founder, not a financier. In an AI era where founders navigate countless options, his message is refreshingly simple: focus is one of the last unfair advantages left. This book is the operating manual for founders who want to play the long game and scale globally".
– Jonathan Siddharth, Founder and CEO, Turing
"The only rule worth following in startups is simple: solve a big problem, build reliable systems, stay tough when it gets hard. Igor’s book lays out that frame with rare clarity and practical depth".
– Dovi Frances, Founding Partner, Group 11
Unicorn Focus will be available through major retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
You can learn more about the book and the author at www.ryabenkiy.com.
You can learn more about the book and the author at www.ryabenkiy.com.