This quick and simple tutorial is going to show you how to set a time delay on start up application in Ubuntu Unity.
All you need to do is adding a parameter into the command to start the startup program. It will create a .desktop file automatically under ~/.config/autostart/ with the “X-GNOME-Autostart-Delay” parameter.
NOTE that this will not work for Dropbox because it re-writes its .desktop file every time it runs.
To get started, first open Startup Applications utility from Unity Dash.
When it opens, highlight the program you want to delay and click the Edit button.
In the Command box add sleep 30; at the beginning, which means the program will delay 30 seconds to start.
Just so easy! After you saved the changes, it takes place in next boot.