{"id":5366,"date":"2017-04-05T23:30:22","date_gmt":"2017-04-06T03:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/cb-insights-making-private-companies-public\/"},"modified":"2017-04-05T23:32:03","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T03:32:03","slug":"cb-insights-making-private-companies-public","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/cb-insights-making-private-companies-public\/","title":{"rendered":"CB Insights \u2013 Making Private Companies Public"},"content":{"rendered":"

Data has been playing a HUGE<\/em><\/strong> role in the investment space for years, with financial analysts crunching numbers, and calculating M and F scores for breakfast, calculating WACC and running portfolio performance regressions for lunch, and validating operational ratios and checking multiples for dinners. The financial industry has become completely reliant on data.<\/p>\n

So\u2026 what do you do if it\u2019s not readily available\u2026?<\/p>\n

For years, companies (Bloomberg, CapIQ, etc.) have been making their fortunes (and donating new wings to B-School libraries) by aggregating publicly available data and providing research platforms to the financial sector. But these services have been limited to public companies that disclose their statements; venture capitalists, private equity funds, and the likes, looking to gain a better understanding of private companies were left out of the party. That is, firms and funds managing an accumulated $4.2tn[i]<\/a> (TRILLION <\/strong>or $4,200,000,000,000 USD) were waiting for something new to come along.<\/p>\n

In 2008, after spending 7 years with American Express, managing the $50 Million Chairman\u2019s Innovation Fund[ii]<\/a>, Anand Sanwal and his co-founder, Jonathan Sherry, decided this white space must be addressed and set out to create CB Insight. The self-proclaimed \u201cBloomberg for Private Companies[iii]<\/a>\u201d has since bootstrapped its way to becoming a leading provider of private company data to the investment community.<\/p>\n

CB Insights built a proprietary data set by developing a software platform that collects private company information, extracts data from press releases and news articles \u00a0as well as other sources, and added another layer of dedicated industry analysts that make calls and push data collection further. While data by itself is great, CB Insights stands out by<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Example Output: Car Industry Startup Map (source: CB Insights)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

creating an innovative analytics layer. This breakthrough dashboard allows subscribers, among other things, to view strength ratings of companies and VC firms, as well as map social relationships between different stakeholders in the industry[iv]<\/a>[v]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In order to increase their exposure and gain more traction, the CB Insights team started producing free industry reports and market maps, holding conferences, and, mostly, sending a daily newsletter that derives inputs from its unique data set. The newsletter has caught fire, currently being sent daily to over 250 thousand subscribers, providing them with puns, professional information and love (yes, love[vi]<\/a>).<\/p>\n

This endeavor made CB Insight a must use platform for large players, from Venture Capital firms to Corporate VCs, from media outlets to law firms, and from investment bankers to LPs. It has positioned itself as the data source of choice for private company information and has been cited in the press over 2200 times in 2016 alone[vii]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All in all, CB insight transformed the way private company information is accessed, provided new avenues for research and understanding of industries previously masked in the darkness of proprietary data, and did so with a smile. Can\u2019t help but appreciate their process and where they are, even if they don\u2019t necessarily appreciate our \u201cdiversity[viii]<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

I love you.<\/p>\n

Gil<\/p>\n

@GilGerstl<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[i]<\/a> https:\/\/www.preqin.com\/docs\/reports\/2016-Preqin-Global-Private-Equity-and-Venture-Capital-Report-Sample_Pages.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

[ii]<\/a> https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/anandsanwal\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[iii]<\/a> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=S0nnxzJrgf4<\/a><\/p>\n

[iv]<\/a> https:\/\/www.cbinsights.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[v]<\/a> Bussgang, Jeffrey, and Annelena Lobb.\u00a0“Mattermark.”<\/a>\u00a0性视界 Business School Case 816-073, February 2016. (Revised February 2017.)<\/p>\n

[vi]<\/a> https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/3061344\/how-emailing-i-love-you-translated-to-1-million-in-data-analysis-revenue<\/a><\/p>\n

[vii]<\/a> https:\/\/www.cbinsights.com\/press<\/a><\/p>\n

[viii]<\/a> https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/3058606\/the-recommender\/how-a-practical-joke-by-cbinsights-skewering-vc-culture-fooled-silicon-valle<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fighting the private company data black hole<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":623,"featured_media":5367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[859,134,29,1420,905,1239],"class_list":["post-5366","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aggregation","category-analytics","category-big-data","category-bootstrap","category-financial-data-analysis","category-startups"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/data-and-analytics-as-digital-assets\/","yoast_head":"\nCB Insights \u2013 Making Private Companies Public - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/cb-insights-making-private-companies-public\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CB Insights \u2013 Making Private Companies Public - 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