Copy
International unicorn club. Fountain of youth. Most active investors in Southeast Asia.

$6k of effort wasted

Hi there,

A few weeks ago, we highlighted that we're contemplating making software to create market maps.

We asked you how valuable software to do this would be.

The response was overwhelmingly positive.



So we're building a Market Map Maker. Here are some high-level wireframes on how the Market Map Maker will work.



A world full of unicorns

We mapped the locations of private companies currently valued at $1B+ that are based outside of the US. We also charted the share of unicorns that have been added to the club each year since 2013 by location (US vs. non-US).

Outside the US, China has far and away the greatest number of private unicorn companies, at 55 total.




The most painful part of making a market map

We also asked you what the most painful part of making a market map was. Here is the breakdown of your responses.



We talked to a handful of our clients after and learned that, on average, it takes 3 weeks just to identify relevant companies and classify companies for a market map.

Assuming an analyst is paid $100k all-in, that works out to $6000 just to do one market map. And this is not to mention the opportunity cost of having a smart analyst sitting around Googling for info to feed the market map.

This also doesn't consider the additional time finding logos using Google image search (this was hated by everyone) and trying to make the market map look good.

So doing 4 market maps per year is likely $25k of analyst time wasted.

On top of that, there is no way to keep the market map fresh, i.e. it's a point-in-time snapshot.

Generally, market maps were regarded as important in helping teams understand emerging industry landscapes but also a royal pain in the arse.

Would love feedback on the parts of the market map-making process you hate most.

And again, here are our Market Map Maker wireframes. We'll be launching this soon as part of CB Insights.




Active in Southeast Asia

We looked at Southeast Asia's most active tech acquirers since 2012. Philippines-based tech solutions company Xurpas tops the list with six acquisitions of Southeast Asian tech firms.


The Next Big Thing

A look at the research coming out of universities, corporate R&D teams, and government research labs that CB Insights thinks you should know about.
The Fountain Of Youth Could Be Hiding In Your Gut
Nanotechnology Chip Could Heal Organs With A Single Touch

Don't bet against Buffett

In 2007, Warren Buffett made a bet that an index fund of the S&P 500 would outperform actively managed hedge funds over the next 10 years.

He won his bet.




E-comm rebound

We look at financing trends in the subscription e-commerce space since 2013. Last quarter saw a 90% increase to hit 19 deals, compared to only 10 deals to e-commerce subscription startups in Q1’17.




The Industry Standard

CB Insights data is the most trusted by those in the industry and the media. A few recent hits.

VentureBeat. Sylvain Kalache (@sylvainkalache) writes about being able to scale education in order to train software engineers and references CB Insights' Amazon Strategy Teardown.

South China Morning Post. A look at Asia's tech scene with a mention of CB Insights investment data.

Digital Journal. James Walker on AI-powered face recognition with a reference to CB Insights research on the subject.


I love you.

Anand
@asanwal


P.S. We're diving into Goldman Sachs' strategy next Tuesday, September 26th. Sign up here for the briefing.

The international unicorn club: 107 private companies outside the US valued at $1B+

China is home to 7 of the top 10 most highly valued unicorn companies located outside the US. See the map.
Tweet this
 

Southeast Asia's most active tech acquirers

Philippines-based tech company Xurpas and Norway-based telecom company Telenor are among the most active acquirers in the region. Read more.
Tweet this
 

Deals to e-commerce subscription startups are on the rebound

E-commerce subscription startups, which offer products from dog treats to luxury apparel, have seen fluctuating investor interest in recent years. See the data.
Tweet this

The Blurb

A curated mix of articles worth sharing.

The cryptocurrency hype. Mark Suster (@msuster) makes cases for and against cryptocurrencies.
Both Sides of the Table

Deconstructing the rule of 40. Fred Wilson (@fredwilson) shares his thoughts on burn rates.
AVC

Exploding the map. A podcast on how maps and mapmaking tools are changing in the age of autonomous vehicles.
a16z

Look elsewhere. Jason Fried (@jasonfried) says to seek inspiration from outside of your industry.
Signal V. Noise
If you loved this newsletter, send it to a friend.
If you hated it, send it to an enemy.
All the data in this newsletter comes from CB Insights. Join NEA, Cisco & hundreds of other clients and get access to the industry's best private company data.

Sign up for access.
Copyright © 2017 CB Information Services, All rights reserved.
498 7th ave, 17th floor, New York, NY 10018