For those of you who have followed my personal blog, you know I don’t think the mythical Unicorn is a very good role-model for entrepreneurs. It isn’t that I’m anti-Unicorn. Quite the contrary, I’m a huge fan of building companies that are worth billions of dollars. My objection, rather, is to the tech-media inspired horn-envy that came along with the Unicorn phenomenon and the subsequent risk-taking craze that ensued. Left in the wake are Unicorn wannabes that died trying and some one-time Unicorns that ultimately fell from grace.

An alternative role-model to the Unicorn is the sturdy Workhorse. Think of the workhorse as a unicorn that has evolved. The unicorn is of mythical value. The horn was useless and the magic isn’t real. Workhorses are are evolved in that they are producers of fundamental value. They shed the horn, solve real problems and create fundamental value.

We believe so strongly in the Workhorse as a role model for entrepreneurs that when my new partner, Dave McLean, and I named our firm, we chose Workhorse Capital.