CB Insights

Tech research and data platform. A working definition from the RGM marketing glossary.

Schematic — CB Insights

Tech research and data platform.

Term: CB Insights
Field: Venture Capital
Category: Capital & Investing

A working definition

Read that twice.CB Insights is a capital concept your team should define once. A loose definition misaligns budgets and reporting.

Tech research and data platform.

CB Insights is a capital & investing term for a capital concept. Agree the scope and two people stop talking past each other.

How operators apply it

Worth a slow read.CB Insights works one way for a lean team and another for a large one. The mechanics follow the context.

CB Insights behaves unlike a fixed rule. An early-stage brand and a mature one will apply CB Insights on different terms. The mechanics follow the inputs around it. Treat CB Insights as a buzzword and the reporting misleads; agree on it and the numbers hold.

The working rule is plain. Agree what CB Insights covers first, then act on it. Skip that order and CB Insights loses its shared meaning, and two teams end up measuring two different things. Pick one definition.

The decisions it touches

Pick one definition.Bring CB Insights in when a live call depends on it. With no decision on the table, it stays background.

CB Insights matters at the point of a decision. In capital & investing, three moments come up again and again. Outside them, CB Insights is reference material.

Setting budget. CB Insights points to where the next dollar should go.
Choosing a metric. CB Insights separates a causal read from a coincidence.
Comparing options. CB Insights stops a tidy-looking comparison from misleading.

A worked example

Look at it this way.To make CB Insights concrete, the case below uses a Bessemer-tracked SaaS firm and figures from public reporting plus RGM analysis.

Look at a Bessemer-tracked SaaS firm. In a rule-of-40 screen, CB Insights drove the decision rather than sitting in a footnote. A baseline came first, then a single agreed meaning of CB Insights, then the read: durable growth separated from cash-burn growth.

Worked example for CB Insights -- illustrative figures, RGM analysis
Stage	Action	What it bought
Baseline	Took a before reading on CB Insights.	A fixed point of truth.
Define	Locked the scope of CB Insights so it stayed stable.	A shared definition up front.
Act	A rule-of-40 screen — one variable.	Cause and effect, isolated.
Result	Durable growth separated from cash-burn growth	An outcome you can trust.

These CB Insights numbers are illustrative -- RGM analysis. The structure travels; the specific figures do not.

Common mistakes

Worth a slow read.Teams slip on CB Insights in four familiar ways. Each makes a soft assumption look like a precise number.

One-size thinking. Using CB Insights flat across every segment. The right cut differs by channel and margin.
Bare numbers. Showing CB Insights on its own. Context is what makes it readable.
Chasing the word. Optimizing CB Insights for its own sake. Check it tracks a real outcome.
Raw benchmarks. Stacking CB Insights against rivals blind. Normalize for margin, pricing, and sales cycle.

Common questions

What is CB Insights?

Tech research and data platform. Agree the scope of CB Insights before the planning starts.

Why does CB Insights matter for marketers?

CB Insights matters because vague vocabulary breaks strategy. A precise, shared definition keeps a team aligned.

How do teams use CB Insights?

CB Insights informs a decision -- most often a budget, a metric choice, or a comparison. The a Bessemer-tracked SaaS firm example above shows the pattern.

What goes wrong with CB Insights most often?

Treating CB Insights as one blanket rule and reporting it with no baseline. Both hide a soft assumption.

Where can I go deeper on CB Insights?

Follow the related terms below, and read up on performance marketing fundamentals, plus marketing attribution models.

What is CB Insights?: Tech research and data platform. Agree the scope of CB Insights before the planning starts.
Why does CB Insights matter for marketers?: CB Insights matters because vague vocabulary breaks strategy. A precise, shared definition keeps a team aligned.
How do teams use CB Insights?: CB Insights informs a decision -- most often a budget, a metric choice, or a comparison. The a Bessemer-tracked SaaS firm example above shows the pattern.