Hi there,

Alright, today I’m going to share some data and other business ideas I’ve been thinking about. If anyone has seen a company doing these, let me know. Or if you’re a hustler that can make these happen, even better.

Idea #1 is a Glassdoor for tech cos to evaluate and see ratings of advisors/service providers like lawyers, bankers, and accountants. I remember when starting CB Insights, our first lawyer was this guy who did real estate law. I had no idea there were firms and lawyers that specialized in helping technology companies.  

When you’re looking to sell your company or do acquisitions, how do you know which i-banker might be relevant to your situation?

There is also no way to know if the service provider is any good. Ratings of service providers would be great.

I think this would be very helpful for founders and service providers/advisors as well.

Idea #2 is a bit niche. Investors (VC, PE, etc.) get all these pitch deck or PPMs (private placement memorandums) with all this interesting data about companies or markets that ultimately gets lost in people’s inboxes or Dropbox or wherever.  

The offering in this case would be to structure that data and make it available so these investor can explore this data across those documents.

Is this being done?

And finally for today, idea #3: A board of directors search platform that helps startups find external board members who have operating experience (not investors).

It would allow you to search by:

• Industry

• Who has taken a company to a particular scale (show me operators who’ve been at late-stage SaaS companies or those who’ve been involved in an IPO)

• Specific functions (people with product management experience)

• Particular geographies (experience working in Brazil)

If it can search for diverse potential BoDs, even better.

I’m not sure any of these are unicorns (nor do I care), but think #1 and #3 def solve challenges folks have had and could be legit-sized businesses. #2 would require a bit of validation on whether folks would pay.

If you’ve got thoughts or seen companies doing this, ping me.

One healthy sector

Investors love healthcare. In 2020, $80.6B in equity funding was raised across 5,500+ financings. Digital health funding surged 45% year-over-year and hit an all-time high.  

For all the highlights on how healthcare fared in 2020, take a look at our just-released State Of Healthcare report.

The drive to succeed 

Electric autonomous vehicle startup Cruise raised $2B this week from Microsoft, GM, and Honda, among others. 

Calling all AI upstarts
 

Applications are now open for the fifth AI 100. 

Previous winners have gone on to raise at unicorn valuations, get acquired for monstrous valuations, and more.

The AI 100 has included companies providing hardware and data infrastructure for AI applications, as well as those applying AI across a variety of major industries — from agriculture to healthcare to finance to insurance.

Old man yells at cloud

Funding to cybersecurity hit an all-time high in 2020, boosted by remote workforces, cyber attacks, and most critically, the adoption of cloud computing. 

Here are the top-line bullets clients need to know about how cloud security is sprinting ahead.

VentureBeat. Chris O'Brien (@obrien) digs into the CB Insights State Of Healthcare Q4’20 report.  

TechCrunch. Alex Wilhelm (@alex) covers fintech funding trends using the PwC and CB Insights Q4 2020 MoneyTree report.

The Telegraph. Hannah Boland (@hannaheboland), Laurence Dodds (@LFDodds), and Margi Murphy (@MargiMurphy) report on Microsoft’s investment in Cruise and cite CB Insights research.

P.S. We’re looking for an associate vice president of product marketing. Sound like you? We’d love to chat.

The Blurb
 

Hot in herre. Cryptocurrency miners and video gamers are using the heat from their machines to warm their homes, chicken coops, and more.

WSJ 

Ticker me pink. A new SPAC will trade under the symbol LMAO (its sponsor company is LMFAO Sponsor), adding to the list of novelty stock tickers. 

Quartz  

Shifting down. Peloton has seen rapid growth amid the pandemic, but its slow delivery is angering new customers. 

NYT

Wrist watch. New research shows that smartwatches can help detect Covid-19 before symptoms appear based on subtle heartbeat changes.

CBS

Home on the range. A UK conservation project is looking to hire 2 bison rangers, no experience required.

CBC News