Anand Sanwal

Anand Sanwal, founder of CB Insights and advocate for entrepreneurial education, shares insights from his journey in the data business. He reveals his data arbitrage playbook and emphasizes the importance of strategic thinking over rushing ahead without direction. Anand discusses innovative business concepts like a high-end Glassdoor and C-suite headhunting service. He passionately describes his vision for an entrepreneurial school that fosters critical thinking, preparing young minds for the future.

In this engaging discussion, Anand Sanwal, CEO and co-founder of CB Insights, dives into the transformative power of data-driven businesses. He highlights innovative 'sawdust data' revenue models and explores emerging niches ripe for growth. There's a fascinating conversation on launching daily executive briefings for professionals, leveraging AI for efficiency. Anand also tackles the complex issues surrounding corporate fraud, particularly regarding the Adani Group, emphasizing ethical practices in business. His insights reveal how data can illuminate both opportunities and risks.

Anand Sanwal, Founder of CB Insights, discusses tech narratives vs data, AI integration, future of data businesses, CEO transitions at 1 to N companies. Tech competition dynamics and challenges in emerging markets, data selling strategies, efficiency of AI in data processing, CEO succession planning, personal branding, rethinking education, and dynamics of hiring and empowering people in business.

In today’s episode, I talk to Anand Sanwal of the market research company, CB Insights.  Anand bootstrapped CB Insights for 6 years… And now it’s worth over $100 million dollars!!!  He’s a really impressive guy and knows a thing or two about growing a company.  This episode also goes into the current state of the startup market, the importance of defining the right priorities for your business, and why every business SHOULDN’T appeal to every customer.  Check out Anand Sanwal on Twitter at @asanwal.  If you’ve ever wanted to learn about the data that’s driving businesses forward, you’ll love this episode.  In this conversation, you’ll enjoy 3 BIG things: - The difference between good ideas and bad ideas, and why you need to be able to identify them - The fiction book that taught Anand the MOST about business - And the ONE sub-market that’s raising a TON of money right now  Enjoy those 3 things… plus a bunch more ear nuggets along the way. Also, if you want to launch your own business but don’t know where to start, I reopened my course Monthly1K for just $10. It’s helped thousands of people start their business journey and I know it will help you, too. Head over to OkDork.com/Monthly1K and sign up.

Erik Torenberg sits down with Anand Sanwal, CEO of CB Insights. Over 900,000 people turn to CB Insights for the insights they share in their newsletter. Riverside.fm is a presenting sponsor of Media Empires. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/MediaEmpires + use code MEDIAEMPIRES for 20% off individual plans.In this conversation, Anand and Erik discuss data collection, scaling across different technology markets, media and data businesses, and more.Media Empires is part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: www.turpentine.co-RECOMMENDED PODCAST:🎙️ECON 102 W/ NOAH SMITH - Keeping econ entertaining - Noahpinion author Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg break down business news and politics every week.Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1696419056Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6q7Gn5lP8TTtBPuV1NJSGs-SPONSOR:Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox. 🐝to https://Beehiiv.com and use code "EMPIRES" for 20% off your first three months.-We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.-TIMESTAMPS(00:00) Episode Preview(02:00) What is CB Insights(02:45) What CB Insights does(03:30) The needs of the CB Insight customer(07:00) Scaling to a thousand markets(12:16) Evolution of CB Insights(15:58) Which data is most helpful to collect?(17:51) A dataset Anand would want to acquire(19:45) Events and Community(21:32) The Future of CB Insights(23:15) Increasing density of coverage(26:48) Perspective on past opportunities(28:30) Litmus test for what is worth Focusing On(30:08) Breadth of data front(32:38) Private analyses(34:25) Data business idea: startup-investor pitches(38:16) Data business idea: Reference checks(39:12) Online reputations(42:20) Which media businesses should be data businesses?(46:10) Scalable and programmatic ways of acquiring data(48:50) If Anand was starting today(49:44) Building a data business on top of a successful media companyLINKS:CB Insights: https://www.cbinsights.com/SOCIALS:Anand's Twitter: https://twitter.com/asanwalAnand's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anandsanwal?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2FErik's Twitter: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg