What is a Stealth Startup or Stealth Mode Startup?
In today’s world, when so many startups start marketing their products when they do not even have any ready products to offer; some startups operate in a secretive and low-profile way, keeping their products, technologies, and business plans hidden from the public and competitors until their innovative product is ready to surprise everyone and is ready to capture the market. The startup that falls into this category is called a stealth startup or stealth mode startup.
Now, why would any startup go into stealth mode and what is the benefit?
Firstly, stealth startups do not remain in stealth mode forever, but it is a temporary stage which is different for every stealth startup. The startup can keep itself in stealth mode for various reasons.
It may be because they are working on an innovative idea or a product and they don’t want anyone to know about it until it is ready to launch.
They can do that for a competitive advantage so that no competitor can copy their product before it can be launched in the market, or they can also do it so that they can get the time to register the intellectual property first and then launch it so that it can never be copied.
The stealth mode can help the startup focus on product development without any external pressure or competition.
Now, How can a startup achieve the stealth mode in today’s world?
To be a startup in stealth mode, a company needs to keep its business plans, products, and technologies secret from the public and competitors.
Some startups even keep a different temporary name of their company which they change later on at the time of reveal.
Stealth startups even sign strict non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with employees, founders, and investors, so that they may not reveal any sensitive information to outsiders.
They also limit their online presence by not launching any company website and not being present on social media apps. They also keep their distance from media coverage.
When can a stealth mode become a big failure?
Stealth mode for startups can be a big failure if the product they are working on already exists in the market and is not the unique product that they were thinking it to be.
Secondly, it can be a big failure if the market does not even need that product, which they were thinking would be a big idea that would tap into a new market.
Challenges faced by stealth startups:
As it is not a piece of public information about what the stealth startup is into, what it is developing, and what they are working on, it becomes tough to raise funding, and the founder will have to go to investors and pitch very carefully to avoid disclosing any sensitive information while also persuading them to invest.
Also, it becomes a cumbersome task to find the right co-founders and talented employees because you can’t trust everyone with confidential information on the one hand, and on the other hand, you can’t make them join the team without explaining what your company is doing.
Being in stealth mode makes it tough to find the right product-market fit because nobody knows what product you are working on, so you cannot get any feedback on the product. As we know, many companies start marketing their product even before it is fully developed because they want to find the right product-market fit and also build an initial customer base along with it. So if you are in stealth mode, you cannot achieve that, and it is a big challenge for stealth startups.