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The Research Pitch

April 30, 2022

Last call! Don't miss our quarterly Venture Monitor webinar on Thursday for a discussion on the key trends driving US venture capital: register here

Join us! PitchBook is hosting a live recording of the Acquired podcast on Wednesday in Seattle.

Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal will interview a slate of business leaders and all proceeds go to Climate Pledge Arena's One Roof Foundation. Featured guests:

Jim Weber, CEO, Brooks Running
Anu Hariharan, partner, Y Combinator
Packy McCormick, founder, Not Boring
Mario Gabriele, founder, The Generalist

More information here

8 book recommendations from our analysts

Sometimes long reads are the best reads.

So, what are we reading? We asked our analysts for book recommendations this week, whether the topics fall neatly into their coverage areas or not.

Here's our list:

The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America
By Margaret O'Mara

"This is a condensed history of the dawn of Silicon Valley and the major technological innovations in the computing industry that followed. O'Mara dedicates significant time explaining the critical role of the federal government in funding Silicon Valley's growth post-WWII. She also recounts several lesser-heard Silicon Valley stories, like that of Ann Hardy, a programmer who moved to the Bay Area in the 1960s and helped pioneer computer time-sharing."

-Paul Condra
Head of Emerging Technology Research

The Exponential Age: How Accelerating Technology is Transforming Business, Politics and Society
By Azeem Azhar

"This is a fantastic book that helps contextualize the clash between evolving technologies and slow-moving institutions. Azhar offers a really useful framework for thinking about technological change and how the nature of exponential growth via network effects has created new challenges for society. All of these themes are connected to business and venture developments."

-Ryan Vaswani
Analyst, Emerging Technology Research

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
By Robin Wall Kimmerer

"This book is not only beautifully written but simultaneously incorporates the author's knowledge of environmental science, biology, and botany into teachings around the environment. In my focus on ESG, this book has partially informed my understanding of our obligation to protect and support the environment, using Indigenous conceptions of the natural world to help explain modern society's distance from and dissonance with the environment and the effects this has had on our treatment of it."

-Anikka Villegas
Analyst, Fund Strategies & Performance

King of Capital: The Remarkable Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone
By David Carey and John E. Morris

"I may be a little biased as a private equity analyst, but this is arguably the best book I've read. It's an excellent read that details the story of Steve Schwarzman and how Blackstone was born. There are multiple fascinating anecdotes around deal origination, value creation, and exits that helped propel Blackstone to become the largest alternatives investment manager. A must-read for those in PE!"

-Dominick Mondesir
Senior Analyst, EMEA Private Capital

The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story
By Michael Lewis

"This is an older book, published in 1999, but it has great insight into the venture capital market and the people behind it. Lewis is such a good writer, and his book takes a unique approach to writing about VC investors and the motivations driving the industry."

-Kyle Stanford
Senior Analyst, Venture Capital

The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future
By Sebastian Mallaby

"This is an excellent history of venture capital that anyone working in or following the industry should be aware of. Mallaby worked on this book for years and had unique access to industry participants like Tiger Global who have reshaped VC. The book offers a number of compelling theses for how and why VC has evolved into its current form."

-Vaswani

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
By Matthew Walker, PhD

"While the title may make it sound a bit bohemian, its focus is really on the scientific reasons we sleep and how the presence or lack of sleep affects our physical and mental health. Given our clients and readers are generally in very fast-paced industries that often require burning the candle at both ends, this book provides important context around the implications of lost sleep. Why We Sleep also helps provide context for why social and labor issues like work-life balance are relevant not only to the wellbeing of employees but to their performance and decision making."

-Villegas

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
By Peter Thiel

"This book provides a very concise and thought-provoking overview of venture capital. It touches on interesting concepts such as monopolization and how it can drive innovation, competition, market sizing, and how to build and evaluate companies. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to gain unique insights from an industry veteran."

-Nalin Patel
Senior Analyst, EMEA Private Capital

Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to reach out with recommendations of your own.

As always, you can catch up with all of our past research here.

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Market Updates

Global M&A remained relatively healthy in Q1 despite geopolitical conflicts.

But there are two sides to that story.

While previously negotiated deals closed on time, new M&A agreements dropped off compared to the fervent activity we saw in the back half of 2021.

High-growth companies have lagged alongside tech-heavy indexes; capital-intensive industries like energy and industrials are poised for prolonged growth, despite higher raw materials costs.

Get all of our data and analysis:

read the free report

In the News

Our insights and data featured in the press:

Silicon photonics is expected to become common hardware in data centers by 2025, with an estimated market of $3 billion by then, similar to the market size of the AI graphic chips market in 2020. [Reuters]

VC investment in Chinese biotech is rising as the nation's drug industry turns toward more innovative medications. [WSJ Pro]

Eight of the 20 largest global M&A deals in Q1 involved financial sponsors as the acquirer. [Institutional Investor]

European PE had a mixed start to 2022. Here are three key takeaways. [Private Equity News]

If you're a journalist interested in interviewing our analysts or requesting data, contact our PR team.

ICYMI

Highlights from our other recent research:

Market updates

Thematic research

Emerging Technology Research

Coming next week (subject to change)

Global Fund Performance Report
Global Markets Snapshot: April

Thanks for reading! Feel free to email us any time with feedback, questions, or tips!

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PitchBook News - Our book recommendations

Older messages

Micro-funds hit above their weight

Fertility startups vie for VC access

Global M&A hangs tough

How Twitter stacks up among take-private deals

Crypto bucks VC valuations reset

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