Google’s 4 best M&A

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Technology is changing the world. What used to seem like the stuff of science fiction is now manifesting in real life.

From defense against drug-resistant superbugs to quantum AI to ecosystem engineering, we take a look at 36 game-changing startups.

Google’s 4 best M&A deals

It is well known that companies have a terrible track record with M&A.

Those much talked-about “synergies” that seem so easy in spreadsheets often never materialize.

Google, however, has done a pretty stellar job with M&A. Its hits include:

• YouTube

• Android

• DoubleClick

• Waze

For those not paying attention, Waze has been quietly killing it.

• It’s rolling out new products at an aggressive rate (Waze Carpool, Waze Audio Player)

• The company’s co-founder and CEO Noam Bardin remains at Google 5 years after the deal

• The team is still growing aggressively

Given Waze’s momentum, I’m excited that Noam will join us at TRANSFORM to discuss what Google does to NOT mess up its acquisitions.  

We’ll also be unveiling research at TRANSFORM looking at how long founding teams actually stick around at companies post-acquisition.

Use the code synergy to get $500 off here for the next 24 hours.

Prices went up a few hundred dollars last week and will go up another $700 on Thursday of this week and $1200 next week.

It’s good for you

Our healthcare research covers digital health, pharma, medical devices, biotech, and much more.

We’ve compiled a guide to our most relevant pieces, from AI healthcare trends to how big tech is making moves in the space to payers and providers.

Check it all out here.

Changing the world. Oh, really?

Adam Lashinsky of Fortune, commenting on Facebook’s recent idiocy, summed it up well:

“Silicon Valley companies like to pretend they’re special in some sort of moral, ethical, or existential way. It turns out they’re just companies.”

Whether it’s Facebook or companies that are taking money from Saudi Arabia, perhaps recent events will get folks to start exercising a bit more skepticism about tech companies.

Even a slightly more critical eye at the “changing the world” blather and grandiose missions would be a good thing.  

BTW, sorry if you really thought that restaurant was building a food platform to build healthier communities globally.  

Note: There are some tech companies that really are changing the world, btw. It’s not all BS (just a lot of it).

 Not just a pretty face

Beauty corporates are snapping up brands left and right, from Unilever’s acquisition of Sundial Brands to P&G’s purchase of First Aid Beauty.

But they’re not just buying beauty brands — L’Oréal’s acquisition of beauty AR and AI provider ModiFace indicates that the future of the industry is tech-enabled.

From social media to customer data to experiential retail, we look at 23 brands that might be on beauty corporates’ radars.

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Unicorns get all the love

Tech startups in India raised almost $10B in funding last year — a record amount. But seed- and angel-stage deals only saw $206M of that, while $6B went to then-unicorn companies.

In fact, every surge in funding has been driven by the country’s unicorns. We dig in to what that means for India’s tech ecosystem as a whole.

 Reaping and sowing

The world’s biggest agribusiness companies are consolidating into even bigger corporates, and their investments in farmer data analytics platforms are adding to concerns of over-concentration.

This could make it harder for the companies to acquire new businesses, and even chip away at their customers’ trust — which is crucial for gathering farmer data.

We take a closer look at how agtech companies’ investments raise the stakes for the industry.

The Industry Standard

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

Harvard Business Review. Cyril Bouquet (@cyril_bouquet), Jean-Louis Barsoux, and Michael Wade present a five-part framework for developing “breakthrough ideas” and refer to CB Insights research.

Bloomberg. Kristen V. Brown (@kristenvbrown) writes about how incubator IndieBio is working to disrupt San Francisco’s tech scene and quotes CB Insights senior healthcare analyst Nikhil Krishnan (@nikillinit).

Entrepreneur. Stephen J. Bronner (@stephenjbronner) discusses SnackNation’s new business that sells insights to food companies and refers to CB Insights research.

I love you.

Anand
@asanwal

P.S. We’ll be discussing the future of blockchain tech on November 29. Care to join us? Sign up here.