zebras < unicorns

Hi there,

A note to VCs.

If your PR/comms team has advised you to start using an animal to describe your investment philosophy cuz they believe that:

1. It’s more distinguished than “unicorn”

2. It will be a term everyone will use and you’ll be credited for

3. Startup founders will appreciate your edgy branding

…you should tell them to do better or find a new PR firm.

Zebras, rhinos, narwhals, gazelles, velociraptors, etc. — we’ve seen a ton of inane/sad ideas in CB Insights’ general info inbox.

None of these have ever or will ever stick.

Please save your money and stop.

Thank you.

What’s en vogue

K-beauty. Sustainable packaging. Inclusive makeup. These are just a few of the trends heating up in the beauty industry.

Take a look at all 15 beauty trends to keep an eye out for in 2020 here.

So smart

The Dec. 11 morning session at The Collective (Dec. 10-11, NYC) will pack a whole lot of IQ points and experience into 90 minutes.

Kay Koplovitz, the founder of USA Network, will kick things off with an interview focused on building and scaling new business models. After that, in 25 minute bites, we’ve got:

• Scott Galloway, NYU marketing professor, Silicon Valley commentator, author of The Four

• Tom Griffiths, Princeton professor and author of Algorithms to Live By

• Scott Belsky, chief product officer at Adobe and author of national bestsellers The Messy Middle and Making Ideas Happen

And that’s just the first half of the morning. Use the code IQPoints to get $650 off your conference registration.

Big changes ahead

Funding to pharmaceutical supply chain startups more than quadrupled to surpass $1B in Q3’19.

Here’s our breakdown of why the pharma supply chain space is seeing an uptick.

Soft as a baby’s bottom

Luxury skincare brands are tapping into the children’s skincare market, even targeting babies by touting non-toxic ingredients.

We take a closer look at this trend (and more) in our beauty trends report.

Crystal clear

Any questions?

BTW, there are tons of horrible data viz here in the thread that kicked it all off almost 3 years ago, for those into that kind of thing.

Disrupting the chain

The notoriously low-tech industry of supply chain and logistics is being upended by startups.

From using blockchain tech to leveraging autonomous vehicle tech, clients can check out 85+ startups that are transforming the supply chain here.

Bloomberg. Tim Culpan (@tculpan) writes about why TikTok is distancing itself from China and cites CB Insights data.

TechCrunch. Jonathan Shieber (@jshieber) covers the fight for digital health data and cites our Q3’19 healthcare report.

Nikkei Asian Review. Keiichi Murayama (@kmurayama) reports on Line’s merger and references CB Insights research.

I love you.

Anand
@asanwal

P.S. We’re looking for an SVP of people strategy. Interested, or know someone who would be? Check out the role here.

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