Stealth Startups: Let’s Decrypt Them.
Published: 2023-01-12 13:32:10

_Understanding Stealth Startups and their pros and cons._

Startups in the 21st century are those who have seen sunlight in the complete dark and vice versa. We all have heard about various startups doing wonders. We have seen unicorns, and multi-billion dollar companies emerging from nowhere.

![Stealth Startups](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/huasa1rtx5zntog4ieui.png)


But do you know just like how much a dark web exists, there do exist some undercover startups which are commonly called stealth startups? Stealth in layman's terms is something which is done in private/silence. You must be wondering why some startups will work in stealth mode. We will discuss them in detail in this article

## Stealth Startups

Stealth mode start-up is those who want to work in privacy and don't want to reveal their product and tell them everything is ready. There can be various reasons behind going stealth. The reason could vary from not wanting to reveal the idea to competitors, or not wanting unwanted attention so that you can work on what's actually important.

There can be various ways to go stealth which start from not releasing publically on any social media. Not launching any website for your product or having limited access to your product which can be blocked to user's credentials. You are restricting the advertisement of your product.

Probably one might be waiting for a grand entrance of your product with some mind-boggling public appearance.

## Finding a Possible Cofounder or partner

Since you're working in stealth mode, your overall exposure would be less than three for any startup working in the usual mode. Obviously, it would be very difficult to find a co-founder. Possibly worth very personal connections. You might be able to find someone who can work on your idea.

But unfortunately not, everybody finds or knows someone with whom they can work. This becomes a nightmare for many. Also, it is never recommended to take up all the work. As a cofounder or leader in general it is always better to delegate the work to the right candidate.

Apart from having a close-knit network of like-minded individuals, they should be some other way to possibly connect with your future co-founder. Possibly using the [Proxycurl]( https://nubela.co/proxycurl-dev/) which can help track the movements of entrepreneurial talents, follow current employees and their movement, and identify [investment signals](https://nubela.co/proxycurl/solutions/alternative-data-for-investment-firms?utm_campaign=writers%20domain&utm_source=website&utm_medium=review&utm_content=stealth%20startups%20good%20bad%20find).

Mainly any person expert in a specific domain might help you with your product. Now finding and reaching these candidates might not be a cup of cake. But using [Employee Listing API](https://nubela.co/proxycurl/linkedin/list-employee) might help you get detail about such employees. You will get a good database of employees and top talent who can be approached.

## Positive And Negative of going Stealth

### Positives

![Positives of stealth startups](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/p4wzjh2ll77cplldyhwl.png)


### Privacy From Competitor.

While we are building a product, there are chances that our competitors take an undue advantage if we make everything public. Keeping yourself in stealth mode will help you keep things low-key.

But while in stealth mode, you can drop some bits of information with can keep the trigger going. With this privacy you have, you are the owner of the information you decide to share with the world.

### Make Bigger Public Appearance.

While you are building your product various start-ups which are working in stealth mode. Don't want to reveal even a bit to the audience. Their plan is to make a grand public appearance and famous launch events and platforms. It can help them to reach from 0 to millions with just a single launch event.

Using [Proxycurls]( https://nubela.co/proxycurl-dev/) [Employee Listing API Endpoint](https://nubela.co/proxycurl/linkedin/list-employee) you can reach out to the employees and prospective customers who might be right for your idea/launch day.

### Uninterrupted Development

Product development versus The quality product development makes a huge difference. Many times value developing a product we come across people who don't have an understanding of the product and they might demotivate you in the way.

Maybe they are not the right audience for you. Going still they provide you with the freedom of getting into your product development uninterrupted.

### Consuming Ideas and Improving.

While you are operating in stealth mode you can attend various events and understand what else you can improve for Indian products. Probably watching different funding events, and pitching speeches, you can be well-prepared for your first public appearance.

Yeah, you can also improve your product by taking indirect feedback from your competitors.

### Negatives

![Negatives of stealth Startups.](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6etowpi47ltie9ht04zk.png)


### Little/No Exposure

A big drawback of getting stealth age you have little to no traction on your product since you didn't even advertise it. So many times a product has a good fanbase already build up and tends to get a good start.

This is a two-sided sort, which could either make or break your startup.

### Difficulty Approaching Investor

Since you are in stealth mode, the chances of getting raped by a possible investor become quite less. You are one who needs to go find the right investor who might be interested in your idea.

There is always a chance of leaking information once you try finding the investor. Although by identifying companies that have gotten funding services provided by [Proxycurl]( https://nubela.co/proxycurl-dev/) you can find a prospective investor.

### Trouble Finding Cofounder

We all are aware that having a good team is the key thing to keeping you going. In case you are in search of a cofounder, it becomes more difficult than usual. You need to reach the right person who might not publicise your idea.

It becomes more difficult than usual as you can't reach everyone since you need to maintain secrecy. You need to reach the right person who might not publicise your idea.

Yeah, the rivers in this particular cage don't work since you aren't public and the chances of your co-founder, reaching you are minimal. Using [Proxycurls]( https://nubela.co/proxycurl-dev/) [Employee Listing Endpoint](https://nubela.co/proxycurl/linkedin/list-employee) or [Person Profile API Endpoint](https://mindroast.hashnode.dev/stealth-startups-lets-decrypt-them#:~:text=Person%20Profile%20API%20Endpoint) you can easily track employees and their movement.

Read more about [Stealth Startups](https://nubela.co/blog/stealth-startups-the-good-the-bad-where-to-find-them/?utm_campaign=writers%20domain&utm_source=social&utm_medium=review&utm_content=stealth%20startups%20good%20bad%20find)

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### About The Author
Apoorv Tomar is a software developer and part of [Mindroast](https://mindroast.com/). You can connect with him on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/tomarapoorv), [Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/apoorvtomar/), [Telegram](https://t.me/ApoorvTomar) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/apoorvsinghtomar/). Subscribe to the [newsletter](https://www.mindroast.com/newsletter) for the latest curated content. Don’t hesitate to say ‘Hi’ on any platform, just stating a reference of where did you find my profile.