Hi there, 
 

We’ve got a couple of terrible data viz for you today since it’s been a while, but more on those in a bit. First…

Last week, we asked you which fintech company you’d buy today if you had to sell the shares on the day of the IPO.

The winner: Stripe. This wasn’t that surprising tbh. I wonder if the answer would have changed if you had to buy and hold for 5 years. My gut says there is more upside in some of the other names on this list, but it’s certainly hard to bet against Stripe. (Disclaimer: I hope you know this isn’t investment advice.)

Made in the USA

In his 2020 shareholder letter, Warren Buffett revealed that Berkshire Hathaway owns $154B worth of US-based property, equipment, and plants — more than any other American company.

Buffett’s take — that asset-heavy companies “can be good investments” — is just one of 28 lessons we’ve gathered from his letters to shareholders. 

Weed dogs?

What is going on in this visualization? Someone help.
 

(h/t to Alex Tsu for sharing this monstrosity)

Maybe it does grow on trees

Investors are backing huge deals in the fintech space, with Q1’21 already setting the record for total mega-rounds ($100M+ deals) in a quarter.

See the top-funded fintech startup — from Robinhood to Toast — in every US state here.

Alrightee then

Is this what "up and to the right" means?

Vendor matrix: underwriting data platforms

Traditional data collection, curation, and application processes for P&C insurance underwriting are expensive and error-prone.

We map out 8 vendors helping optimize the process in our client-only ESP Vendor Assessment Matrix here.

TechCrunch. Alex Wilhelm (@alex) covers the rise in $100M+ fintech deals using the CB Insights State Of Fintech Q1’21 Preview.

Fierce Healthcare. Heather Landi (@HeatherLandi) reports on healthcare SPAC deals, quoting CB Insights senior intelligence analyst Marissa Schlueter (@mschlueter13) and citing CBI data and research. 

Ad Age. Adrianne Pasquarelli (@SheLikesToShop) discusses the "buy now, pay later" phenomenon with CB Insights intelligence analyst Oliver Yu (@yuo526).
 

P.S. We’re looking for a VP of Data and Information Operations to join our leadership team. Sound like you? We’d love to chat.

The Blurb

Land-grabbing. Plots of land in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest are being illegally sold online through Facebook Marketplace ads. 

BBC

Road safety. The US traffic fatality rate jumped 24% in 2020, as drivers drove more recklessly on emptier roads.

Bloomberg

NFTacos. Taco Bell sold out of 25 taco-themed GIFs and images on an NFT marketplace in 30 minutes.

The Verge

Waste not, want not. As companies spend more on tech, they’re wasting more too — including on cloud computing and outdated systems.

WSJ

Light recipe. A Dutch artist and botanists have collaborated to install an LED light show in a field of leeks to help the plants grow better.