April 16, 2024

Level up

Hi there,

Before we get into hot or not, let’s talk about 2 things.

First, if you work in a large enterprise company and are never sure if a startup is capable of / mature enough to work with you, we’ve just rolled out a proprietary Commercial Maturity metric for companies to help you quickly figure out who is ready vs. not.

More on that below.

Second, we got some drama.

Yesterday, Marques Brownlee (aka MKBHD) published his review of the Humane Ai Pin and left nothing to the imagination.

His review was titled “The worst product I’ve ever reviewed…for now.”

Ouch.

Source: YouTube

After his review went live, some folks including X (Twitter) user Daniel Vassallo argued that the review was “distasteful, almost unethical” given MKBHD’s reach. He added that “potentially killing someone else’s nascent project reeks of carelessness.”

This created a lot of chatter online with folks debating whether MKBHD’s review was fair or not.

I wasn’t sure what to think tbh.

I was immediately reminded of the speech by Anton Ego in Ratatouille. 

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends.

​​

At the same time, Humane is not some fledgling startup. 

It’s raised ~$250M and is valued at just shy of $1B, so it’s fair that it has to withstand some heat in the form of tough reviews.

As I thought about it more, I ultimately realized that it was oddly refreshing to hear an honest review of a piece of technology. 

It was refreshing cuz it’s so rare.

Because right now, most software & hardware reviews you see online are gamed or paid for. There is very little truth out there, and we need more of that so that buyers (whether consumers or businesses) can ultimately make more informed decisions with valid, useful information.

Curious what you think. Was MKBHD’s review eviscerating Humane fair or unfair?

Leave your comment here on Twitter or just reply to this email.

More on Humane below.

Hot: AI in auto

We recently broke down how AI is reshaping the automotive industry.

A question several of our auto industry customers asked was which of these startups is actually ready to work with them.

Large enterprises have processes, protocols, requirements, checklists, etc. that must be navigated and the reality is not all technology companies, especially startups, are ready to handle that. 

And so to make it easy for enterprises to figure out which technologies and companies are ready for prime time, we’ve just rolled out Commercial Maturity on CB Insights.

This proprietary metric leverages 30+ signals to measure where a company lies in its development and growth process across 5 levels:

• Level 1 - Emerging (initial research & development)
• Level 2 - Validating (testing and refining product)
• Level 3 - Deploying (growing commercial distribution)
• Level 4 - Scaling (expanding to additional markets)
• Level 5 - Established (major market presence)

For example, Monolith, a company in our generative design category, is working with automakers such as BMW and Honda on applications like improving vehicle acoustics.

As you can see below, Monolith’s Commercial Maturity is level 3. 

You can filter by Commercial Maturity to quickly identify and streamline vendor, partner, investment, and M&A target selection.

Using it together with Mosaic (a measure of company health and potential) gives a powerful 1-2 punch on a company's outlook.

Learn more about how you can find fast-emerging disruptors or established players with us live on April 23.

Not: Tesla

Tesla is planning to lay off more than 10% of its global workforce, according to an internal memo.

The cost-cutting measure shouldn’t come as a total surprise. 

Despite stepping up electric vehicle production last year, Tesla missed Wall Street forecasts for both earnings and revenue in Q4’23.

The company posted $25.2B in revenue in Q4, up 8% QoQ but down 3% from analyst estimates for the quarter.

This Q4 earnings report sparked a slip in shares — and its stock is currently down 30%+ from the start of the year.

Dive deeper into Tesla’s financial performance — including its income, balance sheet, and cash flow — on its CB Insights profile.

Hot: Y Combinator in healthcare

We’ve previously covered Y Combinator’s activity in generative AI.

More recently, we looked at its bets across specific industries and found that AI is prevalent in lots of vertical YC bets as well.

For example, YC welcomed 25 healthcare startups into its latest cohort, and several are leveraging AI to streamline documentation — including everything from patient notes to medical reports for regulators.

Discover these healthcare AI companies in this Y Combinator investment thesis map.

Not: iPhone shipments

Apple’s smartphone shipments dropped 10% in the first quarter of 2024.

And it lost its top spot to Samsung, who is now the largest phone maker globally.

Add in that it also faces competition from AI startups that are looking for the next form factor beyond the smartphone.

For example:

• Apple’s former design head Jony Ive is working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on an AI-centric device.
• Rabbit, which stole the show at this year’s CES with its stylish $199 pocket device.
• And of course, there is Humane, which launched its Ai Pin last week to mixed reviews.

Check out our prediction for AI’s hardware revolution here.

I love you.

Anand 

@asanwal 

P.S. Which insurers are best positioned for the AI boom? Our analyst dives into our Insurance AI Index in this briefing.

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