Jun 26, 2015 · 24m · 20vc
Founder's Friday 001: How to Create Great Company Culture with Anand Sanwal, Founder @ CB Insights
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this debut episode of Founders Friday on The 20 Minute VC, CB Insights co-founder and CEO Anand Sanwal discusses bootstrapping a global data platform, scaling company culture through practical initiatives, and the mechanics of data-driven market intelligence.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Harry holds 19.7% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Harry as informed peer 2.0 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 1.2 Harry pushing back 1.3
speaking balance: gold is Harry, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 16:25 Direct rejection of VC replacement premise
Anand forcefully rejects Harry's prompt by stating 'we are absolutely not replacing VCs' and clarifying that they serve as a Bloomberg-style data vendor.
Hardest push from Harry ▶ 16:15 Challenging CB Insights' cannibalization riskHarry asks a provocative question on whether CB Insights will ultimately replace VCs and alienate its core client base.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 16:30 Explaining data tool vs investment modelAnand educates Harry on how market intelligence platforms enhance VC efficiency rather than replacing capital allocators.
Harry holds his own ▶ 17:59 Probing on technical metricsHarry tests Anand's domain knowledge on consumer tech metrics, prompting Anand to acknowledge he is out of his depth as a B2B founder.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Harry as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Harry pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anand Sanwal's Background and Founding of CB Insights | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Harry asks basic introductory questions regarding Anand's background at Amex and why CB Insights avoided VC funding. Anand explains his rationale around non-dilutive NSF grants and subscription business economics without conflict. | |
| Determinants of CB Insights' Success and Early Hires | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Anand shares lessons learned on early hiring and the necessity of rigorous reference checks as a startup scales past 25 employees. Harry facilitates with simple follow-ups while Anand provides detailed operational insights. | |
| Key Operational Challenges and Preserving Startup Culture | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Anand breaks down actionable culture strategies, contrasting meaningful peer interactions with superficial perks like happy hours. The interaction remains friendly and informative throughout. | |
| CB Insights' Market Positioning Relative to Venture Capital | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | Harry challenges Anand on whether CB Insights risks replacing and alienating its VC customer base. Anand directly pushes back on the premise, explaining that CB Insights acts as data infrastructure rather than an investor, before admitting he is out of his depth on consumer metrics. | |
| Quickfire Round on Leadership, Books, and Inspiration | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Harry drives a rapid-fire session, dynamically adjusting a question on the fly regarding a hundred-dollar gift card. Anand responds casually with brief answers on leadership and inspirations. | |
| Vision for CB Insights over the Next Five Years | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Anand outlines his long-term goal for CB Insights to become the definitive data standard for emerging tech trends. Harry thanks the guest and seamlessly transitions to outro housekeeping. |
Statements from this episode (10)
Anand Sanwal ran a $50M innovation fund at American Express
“I worked prior to CB Insights at American Express, so I ran, I was in their corporate venture group, their corporate M&A group, and then ultimately ran a fifty million dollar innovation fund that the company was, that the company had.”
CB Insights raised $1.15M in non-dilutive NSF grants before taking VC
“We've raised some money from the National Science Foundation but that is non-dilutive, so they don't take any equity. It was a grant, so we raised 1.15 million dollars over a few grants but nothing that is you know, no money that has required us to give up equ…”
CB Insights operates with a $30k to $35k average contract size
“Subscription SaaS businesses, you know, especially the kind that we have, which is, you know, let's say, 30 to 35 K average ticket”
Avoiding early VC funding gives founders leverage in future raises
“If you can avoid it, For as long as possible. It's a good thing. You'll also have more leverage at the time when you do fundraise because you're coming to them from a position of strength. You know, you're not asking for sort of a handout to survive.”
CB Insights rejects one-third of candidates during the reference check stage
“And when we get to references, I'd say one out of three candidates fall out of getting an offer based on what we learned from references.”
CB Insights acts as the Bloomberg terminal for venture capital
“Yes, we are absolutely not replacing VCs. We don't invest in companies. You know, I think of us like you know, the same way Bloomberg sells data to hedge funds, we're, you know, kind of comparable there.”
Market intelligence is shifting from qualitative pundits to data-driven probability
“I think, you know, there's, our view is that the world is moving more towards probability and away from pundits.”
Venture capital will evolve slowly as technology companies become cheaper to build
“I do think the VC model is one that is going to need to evolve, right? I think companies are increasingly less expensive to build, especially tech companies and so I think we're gonna see experiments in venture but, you know, they're gonna play out over many y…”
CB Insights took two years longer than expected to reach its scale
“I think I expected for us to be where we are today, maybe two years ago”
CB Insights will replace traditional research reports as the market standard
“Yeah, I mean, I think we are going, I think we're going to be the industry standard when it comes to data on what's happening, what's next, right? So when people want to know what the next big industry is going to be, they're not going to read research reports…”