14,000 words

Hi there,

Catching a flight back to NYC with a garbage Wi-Fi connection, so going to get to the good stuff quickly today. 

Buckle up 

We just put out our massive 14,000+ word deep dive on 9 of the biggest direct-to-consumer success stories, from Soylent and Casper to Dollar Shave Club and Warby Parker, and analyzed the strategies behind these companies’ growth. 

Casper, for example, has done a lot of work setting up search-specific landing pages and funneling AdWords money into the site to elevate itself above its rivals.

Mortage tech 101 

Despite the size of the mortgage sector, the space still hasn’t digitized — and given the profitability of the industry, mortgages are becoming a prime target for tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

Cash money 

CB Insights has grown 8X in the past three years — and we managed to do this without burning money, all while maintaining our amazing culture.

Know someone who wants to come along for the ride? We started our first external referral program. Send us your friends and we will pay you cash. 

New year new newsletter 

In January, we’re launching our CPG Insights newsletter. 

From food & beverage to beauty tech, CPG Insights will be a weekly newsletter highlighting the startups, technologies, and business trends shaping the future of consumer packaged goods.

Subscribe now to get our first edition in your inbox next month. 

The Industry Standard

CB Insights data is the most trusted by those in the industry and the media. A few recent hits.

Wall Street Journal. Li Yuan (@LiYuan6) on Chinese tech startup funding trends, with a reference to CB Insights funding and unicorn data.

Bloomberg. Gerrit De Vynck (@GerritD) reports on Squarespace’s latest funding round and mentions CB Insights valuation data. 

Fast Company. A look at former Facebook exec Chamath Palihapitiya’s conversation onstage at the CB Insights A-ha! Conference. 

LinkedIn. LinkedIn released its annual “Top Voices in Retail” list, with CB Insights CPG analyst Zoe Levitt (@zoe_leavitt) at #1. 

I love you.

Anand
@asanwal

P.S. Don’t forget to vote in our bracket, which asks: what is the best company to invest in and hold for 10 years? Polls close Sunday.