Snowflake CoWork and the Zombie Unicorn: Finding a Way Forward with Your Own Data
Updated: Oct 7
How can a business find its way back to growth? Start by asking your own data.
By Dithanon Khrutmuang · Power Ladder
Zombie Unicorn · Original Business Play artwork by Power Ladder
When the business keeps running, but the way forward becomes unclear
The Economist’s article “Zombie unicorns are haunting Silicon Valley” describes companies that once commanded high valuations but now struggle to raise funding or find an exit at those earlier values. It also makes an important distinction: a company’s decision not to raise money does not, by itself, mean that the business is in trouble. Some companies simply do not need more funding. [1]
So what is at the root of the Zombie Unicorn condition?
I bring that question about the way forward to Power Ladder’s Zombie Unicorn image. I use it to describe a business that once grew, but now keeps operating by burning cash without seeing a path back to its earlier success. In the sense I use here, this can happen to a small business too. It does not have to be worth a billion dollars.
An owner or senior executive may be struggling to work out what needs to change so the business can thrive and grow again.
My simple answer is: try asking your business.
I mean that sincerely. Today, you can ask your business questions through Snowflake CoWork by connecting those questions to the data and analytical tools your team has prepared. [2]
The Snowflake CoWork home screen for Belly’s Magical Creature, with a question box and starter questions prepared for executives.
Where is the money we spend taking our business?
Bring sales, costs and cash data together to answer the same question.
A starting question for analysis with Snowflake CoWork
Follow the money to understand the problem
For me, the starting point is to examine whether the money being spent still moves the business toward the results it wants. A product that used to sell well may now take longer to sell. Higher sales may come with deeper discounts and higher costs. Or the business may have to wait longer between paying suppliers and collecting from customers. These are questions to investigate using the company’s own data.
Before deciding to increase sales, add products or raise a budget, I want to consider two things together: the opportunity the business could capture and its financial readiness to support that opportunity. This is the thinking behind Business Play.
See the opportunity alongside the limits you can accept
What should move forward? What needs to change? Where should we stop committing more cash?
Calculated Ambition · Original Business Play artwork by Power Ladder
Calculated Ambition illustrates opportunity alongside financial readiness. It does not identify Belly Thailand’s current Business Play.
Snowflake CoWork can be the starting point for this conversation. Snowflake’s guide shows how to configure an assistant to answer questions from business data and display charts. When the team defines the data and tools to fit the task, executives can begin with the decision they need to make. [2]
The assistant Preview in Snowflake displays an explanation and a sales chart for June–August 2024, with a button to preview the assistant in Snowflake CoWork.
Belly Thailand: from inventory concerns to choices we can examine
At Belly Thailand, I worked on the inventory question together with Data Science, producing a plan that identifies which products to buy and when to split the purchases. Alongside the sales we hoped to achieve, we could see the timing of cash commitments and the choices we needed to make more clearly.
Belly Thailand purchasing-plan analysis · January–February 2026. Green: first purchase. Orange: next purchase. Pink: forecast demand not allocated a purchasing budget. The plan is subject to the analysis assumptions; pink does not represent actual lost sales.
JOINT WORK FOR BELLY THAILAND
Dithanon Khrutmuang · Business Play and Consulting
Khin Thandar Kyaw · Data Science
The analysis produced a two-stage purchasing plan that can be traced back to individual product lines. [3] This gives executives a starting point for deciding what to move forward with, what to hold back and what else to ask before committing cash.
We have also tested questions about the Belly Thailand case through Snowflake CoWork. Its answers retrieved the case information and identified the period being referenced. Asking in ordinary language helps executives begin exploring the data and follow up on the decision in front of them.
An answer should help the business choose a course of action
Once we understand where the problem lies, I want executives to be able to ask: “What should we do next?” For inventory, the choices might be to proceed with the plan, invest in stages or postpone selected purchases. Each option brings opportunities and consequences the business must be prepared to accept.
Option 1: Proceed with the plan
Pursue sales opportunities while committing cash to inventory.
Option 2: Invest in stages
Review demand at each stage and align the timing of cash payments.
Option 3: Postpone selected purchases
Preserve cash while assessing the sales that could be forgone.
A framework for comparing options before evaluating them with the company’s data and decision criteria.
Before relying on an answer, executives and the finance team need to agree on the opportunities they want and the level of risk they can accept. Specialists can then translate the question into analysis that fits the company and explain why one option deserves consideration over another.
Power Ladder’s role is to connect business questions, Data Science and Business Play criteria. When used with a company’s data in Snowflake, the aim is to help executives ask which path to choose, why, and who helped define the criteria behind the answer.
The people behind the analysis
Dithanon Khrutmuang · Business Play and Discovery Consulting
Khin Thandar Kyaw · Data Science
A decision report should identify who helped define its criteria, their areas of responsibility and the case’s review date, so the reasoning can be traced back.
From one question to a way forward
For companies already using Snowflake, a useful starting point may be a question that remains unresolved in the boardroom: which products are tying up too much cash, which customer groups actually generate profit, or which investments should wait? Bring the relevant data together with the people responsible for that decision.
A business’s recovery depends on choosing a course of action, carrying it out and reviewing the results. Snowflake CoWork and Business Play help us begin that conversation with data, understand the trade-offs and know who to return to when reviewing the decision.
Start with the Zombie Unicorn Interactive Quiz. Explore which questions the signals you are seeing should lead you to ask, and whether your team has the evidence to answer them.
If you could ask your business one question today, what would you want to know to help it grow again?
References
21 June 2026 · Referenced for the concept
A guide to asking questions of business data and displaying results through CoWork
[3] Belly Thailand purchasing-plan analysis, January–February 2026
Product quantities, costs and staged totals were checked against the case study’s purchasing-plan files and purchase tables. The image summarizes recorded analysis; it does not show business performance after the purchases.
Business Play artwork: Power Ladder · Prepared 6 October 2026
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