Hi there,

Last week, I shared 3 startup ideas I’ve been kicking around, and it got an isht-ton of responses. You can read the ideas here, but in short they were:

#1 Glassdoor for service providers (lawyers, bankers, etc.)

#2 Extract and structure data from pitch decks and PPMs

#3 A board of directors search platform

#1 got the most interest, followed by #3. #2 was the most niche, but got the most “I’d def pay for this” responses.

There were also a lot of responses highlighting companies attempting to digitize the board search process, so I’ve shared those at the bottom of this email.

One other note: I just put these out there cuz I think there is a market need for these (but I could be wrong so do your diligence). We (CB Insights) are not looking to invest in these ideas, partner on them, or do calls to hear about them. You also definitely don’t have to ask for permission to do these. They’re just ideas. If you’re a hustler and think you can turn them into a business, that’s amazing. Build away.  

More on the companies folks mentioned solving the board problem below, but first...

Short videos are big money. 

TikTok racked up a bunch of attention last year, with eye-popping numbers like 2.6B+ downloads as of December 2020, 600M daily active users (DAUs), and a $140B valuation for parent co ByteDance.

But all eyes are on China-based Kuaishou this week, as news broke of its impending $5.4B IPO — which could be the largest offering in more than a year. 

With 305M DAUs, the Tencent-backed company is self-proclaimed as the world’s second-largest short video sharing app. (For context, Twitter counts 187M daily users, Snap 249M, and Facebook 1.82B.) 

For a sense of what's in store for Kuaishou, take a look at how ByteDance grew TikTok to its 600M DAUs and became the world’s most valuable unicorn in this report.

I'm bringing VR (and more) back
 

GameStop's current share price may not make it through the pandemic, but here are 24 industries that will.
 

From enterprise VR to 3D printing in manufacturing to cloud kitchens, check out the industries and tech that will shape the post-pandemic world in this report.

Them other AI cos don't know how to act

In 2020, AI companies from 13 countries and 15 industries made it to the CB Insights AI 100. They were selected from nearly 5K startups based on several factors, such as patent activity, news sentiment, proprietary Mosaic scores, market potential, tech novelty, and more.

Since announcing our list, 1 startup has been snapped up by a tech giant, 3 have gone public, and 2 have become unicorns. See our full analysis here.

I think it's special, what's behind your board?

On the board of directors search, here’s the list readers suggested. I have no idea if any of these are legit. My diligence was just ensuring the website loaded :). 

But for those of you who thought BoD search is a pain point, these might be worth checking out:

• AboveBoard

• AdvisoryCloud

• BoardEx

• BoardMatching (Switzerland)

• Boardsi

• Bolster

• Director Search

• Hippoly

• nBoard (Denmark)

• Nurole

• The BoardList

• WeBoard

Turn around and airlines'll pick up the slack 

Commercial aviation is responsible for 2.5% of the world’s CO2 emissions, and the high level of emissions from jet fuels make them a crucial element in reducing airlines’ environmental impact. 

In the effort to hit sustainability goals, airlines are betting on a set of renewable technologies. Clients can read more about the emerging solutions here.

Business Insider. Shoshy Ciment (@ShoshanaCiment) covers potential marketplace platform IPOs and quotes CB Insights managing intelligence analyst Thomas Sineau (@TSineau). 

Sifted. Isabel Woodford (@i_woodford) looks at the European “buy now, pay later” space and references CB Insights research. 

MedCity News. Anuja Vaidya (@anujav89) reports on the newly minted unicorn Sidecar Health and cites CB Insights insurtech funding data.
 

P.S. We’re hiring a principal engineer to own the architecture of our market intelligence platform. Apply for the role here.

The Blurb
 

‘Ello gov'nor. Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya is reportedly considering a run for California governor.

Axios

Arm jabs. The US vaccine distribution operation is a complex web of private, local, state, and federal systems — here’s a breakdown. 

MIT Technology Review

Bitcrime. Cryptocurrency funds received by illicit entities dropped overall in 2020, but crypto ransomware bounties jumped. 

CNBC

Space race. The first fully private astronaut crew — 3 men paying $55M each — will head to the International Space Station next year.

The Verge

The new denim. A prototype for jeans lined with airbags that inflate on impact could make motorcycle riding safer. 

Jalopnik