Hi there, 

In early April, The Information wrote about Gartner’s Magic Quadrant. See The Blurb for a link. 

It’s juicy. 
 

Below are some of my favorite passages from the article, but here's a quick summary:

• Companies don’t have to be paying customers to do well in MQ

• BUT former Gartner analysts say those that purchase subscriptions are better positioned to do well in MQ

• “It’s not a protection racket” is the best quote in the article

We’ve completed over 10,000 analyst briefings with technology companies in the last 11 months.  

They’re free, btw.

And they increase your visibility with technology buyers, partners, investors, acquirers, and our analysts. 

And oh yes, it's probably worth adding that it’s not a protection racket. :)

You can request a free analyst briefing here.

Put your hands together

For the sixth year running, we’ve picked the 100 most promising AI startups in the world.

Our analysts combed through a pool of more than 7,000 companies to select the 2022 AI 100 cohort.

Here are some of the highlights: 

• Globetrotters: This year’s winners represent 10 different countries across the globe, led by the US, the UK, and Canada. 

• The young and the restless: Thirty-nine are early-stage startups, innovating to combat toxic online gaming behavior, build a better search engine, and more.

• A healthy lead: Healthcare is the top industry represented on the map, with 10 companies. 

• Back it up: More than 600 investors have backed this cohort across 300+ equity deals since 2017.

Meet the 2022 AI 100 winners here.

Follow the money

Coinbase Ventures was the most active corporate VC investor in Q1’22, backing 37 companies in the quarter. It beat out Google Ventures (34), which took the top spot in Q4’21. 

The prolific investor inked deals with 20 fintech companies, focusing mainly on blockchain and crypto startups.

Coinbase Ventures’ rise has been swift — the firm was launched just 4 four years ago in April 2018.

So where is Coinbase headed?

We mined the crypto exchange’s investments, acquisitions, and partnerships since it went public in April 2021 to identify its strategic priorities.

The company has seen its stock price tumble in recent weeks amid a broader market selloff (and due to its own results missing expectations) — prompting it to slow hiring.

But Coinbase’s recent investment activity points to 2 long-term goals it will likely still be going after: global expansion and fueling the growth of Web3. 

Dig into our analysis in this strategy map.

Bloomberg. Lizette Chapman (@lizette_chapman) uses CB Insights data in covering tech’s downturn. 

Financial Times. Dave Lee (@DaveLeeFT) and Hannah Murphy (@MsHannahMurphy) report on tech layoffs and cite CB Insights research. 

TechCrunch. Alex Wilhelm (@alex) and Anna Heim (@abracarioca) dig into the CB Insights State of CVC Q1’22 Report.
 

The Blurb

Four square. Kevin McLaughlin digs into what Gartner’s Magic Quadrant means for tech. 

[paid] The Information

Default dead or default alive. Paul Graham outlines the question all startup founders should be asking themselves — will their business reach profitability before running out of money?

Paul Graham

Data biz. Abraham Thomas analyzes the economics of data businesses. 

Pivotal