Early Entrepedia – Gen Z Business & Economics Insights

All startups aren’t the same. They have different business models, stages, and target markets. Being able to understand these different types of startups help entrepreneurs, investors, and students know where to focus and how to operate.

1. Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Startups

• Selling products or services directly to the customer, by eliminating traditional retailers. Focuses on branding, marketing, and customer experience. It shows how startups can leverage social media, e-commerce, and subscriptions to scale fast.
• Examples: Glossier, Allbirds, Dollar Shave Club, HelloFresh
  

2. B2B (Business-to-Business) Startups

• Sell products or services to other businesses rather than consumers. Focuses on efficiency, scalability, and solving specific business problems. These startups often have longer sales cycles but bigger contracts and recurring revenue.
• Examples: Slack, Stripe, HubSpot
  

3. SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) Startups

• Deliver software over the internet with subscription or recurring payments. Focuses on cloud-based solutions, ease of access, scalability. SaaS allows startups to scale globally quickly and collect data to improve products.
• Examples: Zoom, Notion, Canva

4. Marketplace Startups

• Connect buyers and sellers on a single platform. The startup usually takes a cut of transactions. Marketplace startups are hard because they need both sides to show up at the same time. Users won’t join if there’s no one to interact with, and providers won’t join if there are no users, so the company has to grow both sides together.
• Examples: Airbnb, Uber, Etsy

5. Hardware / Product Startups

• Build physical products instead of software. Focus on manufacturing, supply chain, and distribution. These startups require capital-intensive development and a strong product-market fit before scaling.
• Examples: Tesla (early), Peloton, Ring

6. Fintech Startups

• Innovate in the financial industry such as payments, banking, lending, insurance, or investing. Fintech startups often disrupt traditional finance and offer high-impact learning for interns.
• Examples: Stripe, Robinhood, Lendistry

7. Health / Biotech Startups

• Focus on medical, biotech, or health technologies as well as compliance, R&D, clinical trials, and life-saving innovation. These startups usually require expertise but can be highly impactful.
• Examples: 23andMe, Moderna, Tempus

8. Edtech Startups

• Use technology to improve learning and education. Focuses on learning platforms, courses, gamification, and accessibility. Offers opportunities for student engagement and content creation, perfect for internships.
• Examples: Duolingo, Outschool, BYJU’s

9.  Impact / Social Startups

• Solve social, environmental, or economic problems while building a sustainable business.They focus mission-driven, often a hybrid of nonprofit + for-profit elements and combine business with real-world impact, ideal for mission-driven students.
• Examples: TOMS, Warby Parker (one-for-one model), Lendistry

10. Accelerator / Platform Startups

• Support other startups rather than selling a product directly.They focus on mentorship, investment, and community-building.They give us insight into startup ecosystems and founder support, valuable for aspiring entrepreneurs.
• Examples: Y Combinator, Techstars, Pear VC (Platform Team)