CVC history lesson. AI's biggest VC investment. Amazon could make you a mechanic.

Guys gone wild

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Kissing up

Wall Street analysts seem to love congratulating big company execs on earnings calls.

When we mine our earnings transcripts search engine, we see they prefer "great quarter, guys" to "great job, guys."



Interestingly, we hit peak "great quarter, guys" in 2008.


Remember the time

In corporate venture capital, there's a lot of tension between financial and strategic goals, and conflicting evidence about whether startup investing is a valid form of "outsourced R&D."

So why do Fortune 500 companies start corporate venture units and invest in small, risky companies? To answer these questions, we dig into the history of corporate venture investing.




It's not always "congrats, bro"

"Congratulations on a great quarter" is the most popular way analysts compliment execs on earnings calls.




Be your own mechanic

A new patent granted to Amazon shows how the company wants to use AR to help customers test part compatibility before purchasing. We analyze the tech described in the patent here.




I never forget a face

This week, China-based facial and image recognition tech startup SenseTime brought in a $600M Series C investment led by Alibaba. This is the single largest venture capital investment in the AI sector.

In part 1 of our China in AI series, we look into how facial recognition technology and startups like SenseTime are contributing to China's nation-wide surveillance project.




Help wanted

Some of our friends in venture and M&A are hiring:



Swag alert

Tech news, love, bad data viz...a newsletter can’t get any better than this, right?

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We just added the one thing that’s been missing: the chance to win amazing swag.

Introducing CB Insiders, a rewards program that lets you win prizes by referring new subscribers to our newsletter.  


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5 referrals: A set of CB Insights stickers, the perfect accessory to slap on your laptop, refrigerator, funding term sheet, and more.

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50: The coveted CB Insights T-shirt that people keep asking to buy (no, you can’t). Soft and supple, they’re handwoven by a monastic group of data scientists living in the peaks above Palo Alto.

200: A CB Insights mini drone. 🐝

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The Industry Standard

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

Forbes. Wade Burgess (@wadeburgess) writes about how the gig economy is driving innovation in HR tech and cites CB Insights data.
 
San Francisco Business Times. Katie Burke (@sfbizkatie) reports on Impossible Foods’ $114M funding round and refers to CB Insights research.
 
Inc. Michelle Cheng (@mbcheng15) writes about SenseTime’s $600M Series C funding round and the uses of its technology, and references CB Insights research.



I love you.

Anand
@asanwal

P.S. On April 19, we'll be discussing cybersecurity trends in 2018. Save your spot at the briefing.

The Blurb

A curated mix of articles worth sharing.

Big Brother. In an effort to build an all-encompassing ID system, India is scanning fingerprints, eyes, and faces of its 1.3 billion residents and connecting that data to everything from welfare benefits to cell phones.
New York Times
 
Mind-reader. MIT Media Lab’s new AlterEgo headset can read words you say in your head using the brain signals sent to your mouth and jaw.
CNet
 
AI school. Kai-Fu Lee, former head of Google’s operations in China, has launched a new project to help close the country’s AI talent gap.
Wired
 
We’ll look into it. Facebook is starting a new initiative to help provide independent, credible research about social media’s role in elections and democracy in general.
Facebook Newsroom
 
Eat it for the ‘Gram. Mark Wilson (@ctrlzee) discuses how technology and media are reshaping the restaurant experience with Laureen Barber (@barberlaureen), co-owner and design director of Blue Hill.
FastCo Design
 
Bankin’ on the low. PayPal has reportedly been quietly rolling out traditional bank features to certain groups of customers over the last few months.
Fortune
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