Using Crunchbase to Narrow Down Your Company Target List
I strongly recommend Crunchbase to anyone interested in creating a pipeline of prospects.
When we embarked on building Leap, I heavily relied on Crunchbase Pro to assist me in creating a list of companies that fit our ideal client profile. In my view, Crunchbase is the most comprehensive source of information on both public and private companies. It offers a wide range of information about a company, including a brief summary, funding details, employee information, and recent news mentions, making it effortless to gather information about a company in one convenient location.
Our initial batch of clients for Leap came from using Crunchbase's tools. In addition to Crunchbase Pro, I also subscribed to their monthly contacts package, which provided me with email and phone numbers for the contacts I wished to reach out to on my target company list.
Overall, I strongly recommend Crunchbase to anyone interested in creating a pipeline of prospects. Nevertheless, in this post, I wish to discuss how job seekers could use Crunchbase in their job search.
In the last three months, many individuals, including some of my close friends, have lost their jobs. Some of these people have not had to search for work in a long time and are unsure how to begin the process.
Working alongside our colleagues to solve specific issues and work towards a broader mission consumes at least half of our daily lives. Picking your next company and who you surround yourself with thoughtfully really matters.
When a close friend approached me for guidance after his company went bust, we began brainstorming his next move. We knew the first concrete step was updating his resume, but what should he do next?
Our conversation delved deeper into his passions and priorities, which led me to open Crunchbase and guide him in narrowing down his search utilizing Crunchbase’s filters.
Let's begin with the basics:
Which industries or categories spark your interest?
Would you prefer a company at a certain stage of funding or with a particular number of employees?
Are you willing to relocate for the right opportunity?
During my conversation with my friend, he expressed his passion for clean tech and his preference for a later-stage business over a startup. Additionally, he wanted to remain in the Bay Area due to personal reasons. Using Crunchbase, I filtered the results to companies related to cleantech and renewable energy with financing rounds from Series E to Public. The result was a list of 145 companies that fit my friend's criteria. Below is a snapshot of what you would see inside Crunchbase:
It’s still a lot of companies to research but it narrows it down.
There is another filter in Crunchbase called “Actively Hiring” and I encourage people to at least temporarily avoid it when narrowing down their target list. The best roles are created for the right people and starting your search by narrowing down companies you’re passionate about is key.
Take a day to truly think about what you want, and what questions you would ask people at these companies on your list.
For me, an ideal company environment would consist of people who care about their work, aim for significant outcomes, and prioritize customer satisfaction. On a micro level, as my friend was a revenue leader, we focused on the company's ideal customer profile, sales cycle, annual contract value, rep quota attainment rate, and product roadmap.
Crunchbase won't be able to answer all your questions, and you must take the initiative to communicate with people to find the answers that matter to you.
Using this approach, my friend found a company within his narrowed down search that fit the majority of his requirements, but it took time, effort, and numerous conversations with various stakeholders.