sorry: you’re not Steve Jobs

Written in 6 Teslas

Hi there,

It’s 4/20. So we got 2 things on the brain.

Graphs and cannabis.

So we combined them into our first ever Cannabis Trailblazers 2017 Report. It’s full of great data and even better puns.

Read on for highlights.

But first.

India’s big fintech unicorn

I’m in India right now, and two quick observations:

• WhatsApp ubiquity. It is everywhere. Family uses it to stay in touch and people use it to receive business orders as well. It does everything. There is a lot of talk about Instagram being one of Facebook’s best buys, but if the pervasiveness of WhatsApp in India is similar in other markets, this may be the most killer acquisition by FB.
• Paytm is everywhere as well. The India-based payment and e-commerce unicorn is valued at $4.2B and is reportedly on the cusp of raising an additional $1.5B from SoftBank, which would bring its valuation into the $7-$9B category. Its logo is everywhere you want to make a purchase.

Paytm’s CEO & Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma will be speaking at The Future of Fintech and we’re looking forward to discussing this investment (if the rumors are true), the similarities with Alipay, and Paytm’s plans for dominating India.

To get $1000 off a ticket through April 21st (tomorrow), use the code GlobalUnicorn here.

Lighting up the future

From next-gen cultivation to on-demand services to compliance, our 38-page report looks at 17 startups across 6 categories with the potential to shape the future of legal cannabis.

The weirdest vanity metric

The $400 Juicero, backed by Google Ventures, is feeling the squeeze per Bloomberg. In the article (see what it’s about in The Blurb), there are two additional cautionary notes:

• There is little upside in comparing yourself to Steve Jobs. This never ends well.
• Juicero would be doing better if it could lift three Teslas

Unicorn exits

We identified which investors have backed the most companies that have gone on to unicorn exits, or exits valued at $1B+, since 2009.

Sequoia Capital takes the top spot with 19 companies in its portfolio seeing unicorn exits since 2009, including Snap and LinkedIn.

For a full list of $1B+ VC-backed exits, check out our Unicorn Exits Tracker, updated in real-time.

Mutual benefits, mutual opportunities, mutual synergies

People enjoyed yesterday’s terribly synergistic, win-win email from some rando who emailed me. And then there is this gem which one subscriber got via LinkedIn (thanks to Mark Liber for sharing).

Attractive deals

We took a look at deals to beauty & grooming startups to get a better idea of where investment activity is going. Within the packaged products segment (also the largest category), startups producing skincare goods have received the most deals since 2012.

Highly funded startups

Three of the top five most well-funded Marijuana Trailblazers are focused on medical marijuana with medical marijuana delivery service Eaze Solutions leading the pack.

Industry Standard

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

Quartz. Michael J. Coren (@mj_coren) writes about the shipping market and cites CB Insights data on investment into shipping and supply-chain management startups.

Financial Times. A look at five areas of fintech that are attracting investment with a reference to CB Insights investment data.

Zee Business. A look at India’s fintech sector with a reference to CB Insights research on Indian fintech startups.

I love you.

Anand
@asanwal

P.S. Yesterday, we released our first-ever Amazon Strategy Teardown, covering the company’s strategy across patents, investments, M&A, and more. Check it out. You can even download a PDF version.

P.P.S. Don’t forget to vote in our most innovative consumer product bracket. Polls close this Sunday.