CB Insights - list of ugly pitch decks

Hi there, 

CB Insights had some pretty bad ideas when we first started, including this logo, which thankfully never saw the light of day.

(This is where the "CB" in our name comes from, btw.)

But sometimes, bad design =/= bad company. 

We compiled some of the early pitch decks of current unicorns (or exited unicorns) like LinkedIn, Airbnb, YouTube, and Coinbase, before they notched their billion-dollar valuations. 

All we do is win, win, win
 

Six Digital Health 150 winners have raised funding in September alone, ranging from incubator participation to a Series F mega-round.
 

Some of our DH150 picks will also be presenting in Day 2 and 3 in our Future of Health conference. Check out all of the winners here.

Necessity is the mother of invention
 

From Dyson designing a portable ventilator in just 10 days to Markforged 3D printing nasal swabs, manufacturing innovation has persisted throughout the pandemic.

We take a look at how advanced manufacturing, spanning from generative design to industrial robotics, has fared in H1'20 in this client-only report.

Big news

We’ll be launching our first-ever Retail Tech 100, CB Insights’ list of the most promising retail technology companies in the world, later this year. 

We’re looking for the technology companies that are transforming all the key elements of retail, whether it is the in-store experience, e-commerce, fulfillment, supply chain and logistics, or any other critical function in the retail experience.

Think your company belongs? Apply here to be considered for the list before October 4.

Where the money is at
 

Small- and medium-sized businesses — which are facing unprecedented cash flow crises among the pandemic — are often underserved by more established financial services players.  

Clients can see 115+ private fintech companies competing against big tech and incumbents for a slice of the pie.

Bloomberg. Sarah McBride (@mcbridesg) covers the recent flurry of IPO activity and references CB Insights research.
 

Barron’s. Eric Savitz (@savitz) reports on Sumo Logic’s IPO and cites CB Insights data.

Arabian Business. Gavin Gibbon (@gavgibbon) discusses the Middle East’s innovation landscape using CB Insights unicorn data.
 

P.S. We're looking for a senior director of product marketing. Send in your resume here, or refer someone to be eligible for a $5,000 bonus.

Workation. National parks in Japan are upgrading their Wi-Fi and facilities to attract remote workers. 

The Japan Times

Urban AI. An AI settlement-building competition in Minecraft is helping to explore new techniques for urban planning.

MIT Technology Review

Adrift. 300,000 workers are stranded on merchant ships, a crisis that threatens their safety and the global supply chain.

Bloomberg

A good kind of fake. Synthetic data could be used to reduce bias in AI models. 

Slate

Cash money. While digital payments are up, so is cash — Americans are holding 2x as much at home compared to last year. 

Quartz