PitchBook vs. The Weather Company

Well rounded tool useful for all aspects of VC ranging from deal sourcing and portfolio support to fund advertisement and LP search. The quality of data is not nearly as comprehensive as what you'd find on Bloomberg or other public market tools. But that is probably more of a private market issue than a PitchBook issue. Other than that, if used properly, the platform and the team have the ability to greatly enhance your productivity.

Incentivized

Well suited:

• Forecasting for severe weather events.
• Generating overall seasonal trends in upcoming weather patterns.
• Content is easy to read and understand.
• Great for business decision-makers, c-level executives.

Not well-suited:

• Year ahead forecasts.
• Data that can be trusted as finite days before a weather event. The data and forecasts can change often, so remaining up to date is key.

Incentivized

• PitchBook provides a very comprehensive database of not just companies and investors but also M&A activity, financials, funds and LPs.
• Pitchbook is multi-dimensional it how it can be used. For example, it can help to accomplish various business objectives, including deal sourcing, due diligence, private market intelligence and fundraising.
• PitchBook has an easy-to-navigate user interface. It enables the user to quickly find the data and information that he or she needs.

Incentivized

• Detailed forecasts.
• Hyper-local forecasts.
• Daily updated local and meaningful forecast for our business.

Incentivized

• The categories for funds/investors are sometimes too general - therefore makes it hard to do specific sub-asset class searches
• Some of the info is wrong / lacking for certain managers/firms
• Some of the market info could be more consistent and general

Incentivized

• Forecasts are not always accurate.
• Winter weather forecasts are now often now-casted which can be challenging for proactive planning.
• Would love to see more tips on how businesses can prepare for severe weather by the use of the Weather Company’s data.

Incentivized

The matching process is fairly simple and comprehensive. The search and filter functions are clear and easy to use. We are able to export all information so that we do not miss any details when consuming the information. The layout of the extracts is sensible and the data easy to consume.

Incentivized

The overall support for PitchBook is about average. It is not excellent for two primary reasons. First, PitchBook can run slow from time to time, and I cannot copy and paste from the Chrome extension. I have found neither of those issues to be a function of the computer I am using. However, the PitchBook support team has proved helpful on several occasions.

Incentivized

Support for the Weather Company has not been an issue. The predictive analytics processes that they use allow them to remain a strong force in the world of weather patterns and forecasts. Brand recognition allows them to continue to grow and develop in a world that is not as crowded as other predictive analytics areas.

Incentivized

did not participate

Incentivized

Certain regards, such as comprehensiveness and ability to store and export searches and data related to searches PitchBook performs better than the above and remains our go to tool. However we also use DealRoom to supplement some of that data to ensure comprehensiveness and accuracy. Crunchbase appears less sophisticated and hence less relevant for us

Incentivized

Insightful meteorologists that both understands the science of weather and also understands our business needs.

Incentivized

we can give access to anyone interested

Incentivized

• I'll pull ~25 company descriptions on occassion instead of writing them myself. Each time I grab one of those I'm saving myself 2-3 minutes. Easily save an hour+ on this simple / repetitive task related to a daily / weekly work product.
• If I want to understand other companies in the industry, PB's search function will save me from skimming the internet for hours. This can result in 4-7 hours of time savings across a more macro or industry-wide project.
• Quickly finding who invested in an asset can save sometimes 30-45 minutes of searching the internet. While I wish it provided more details on the specific fund that invested (i.e., Fund IV), it provides sufficient direction for me to begin searching internal databases.

Incentivized

• Better confidence in the weather forecast.

Incentivized