Today, we’re going to show you how to be a terrible networker. But first, the best Venn Diagram of 2017.
Food coma
We created a timeline of first fundings to US food delivery startups between 2011 and 2017 year-to-date. Investors and activity in the space has begun to cool, with this year and last year seeing a total of just 7 new entrants, compared to 8 in 2014, and 12 in 2013.
In addition, New York City-based meal delivery startup Maple recently shut down operations and was acquired by UK-based Deliveroo.
Are you a terrible networker?
With 272,000+ on this newsletter and the responses coming directly to my email, I get lots of emails to do what can loosely be called “networking.”
I’ll share with you my views on what makes for a terrible networking email.
Before I give this very honest and potentially mean feedback, please note that I’m introverted, socially awkward, and don’t like people.
So with those caveats, let’s make you amazing at being a bad networker.
“I’d like to pick your brain” – What? This is so unspecific and lazy, it makes me angry.
“Let’s swap notes” – This is shorthand for “I don’t bring isht to the table” but I’m hoping you’ll teach me stuff so I sound smart in front of clients, startups, other investors, etc. The answer is No. Final answer.
“I’d love to buy you a cup of coffee” – Really? You’re willing to spend $3.95 for an hour of time. Dang — big spender. Can I get a cookie too?
“I’d love to grab a beer” – I’m not sure if this is worse than coffee. The thing I’ve always thought of doing is inviting my friends and then seeing if the person would pay for all of our drinks. That would make it worthwhile.
Of course, some folks will say isht like “I’d love to pick your brain over coffee and swap notes.” Noooooo.
Snap’s patents
We categorized all 55 of Snap’s patent grants and applications published thus far by initiative to see some of the trends around patent activity. Snap may be laying the groundwork for the company’s vision and AR efforts, with at least 3 related patents in the Spectacles and AR category filed in 2015.
You don’t deserve a reputation if…
As you might have realized, I’m excited for The Future of Fintech. It’s the first event we’ve done which will cost over a million dollars (scary).
But I’m excited cuz we’ve got The Central Park Zoo and Lincoln Center and 49 amazing speakers who are leaders in the coming financial services revolution.
One speaker I’m really looking forward to is Nassim Taleb, the author of The Black Swan. Taleb as we’ve highlighted before says what’s on his mind.
We looked into travel tech funding trends since 2012. Q1’17 saw the third-highest quarterly funding total over the time period, and a big uptick in deals.
Periodic table of cybersecurity
We put together a periodic table of cybersecurity that spotlights the top startups, industry categories, investors, and top exits since 2012.
The Industry Standard
CB Insights data is the most trusted by those in the industry and the media. A few recent hits.
Bloomberg. Olivia Zaleski (@oliviazaleski) writes about Airbnb’s interest in Latin America and cites CB Insights funding data.
Forbes. A look at VC in 2016 with a mention of CB Insights unicorn data.
BostInno. Dylan Martin (@dylanljmartin) digs into the state of AI in Boston and refers to CB Insights deals and investment data.
With 272,000+ on this newsletter and the responses coming directly to my email, I get lots of emails to do what can loosely be called “networking.”
