​

​
​
​Here's What's New:

• ​The Satellite Renaissance. Our latest Foundations and Frontiers essay covers the recent resurgence of satellite manufacturing and launch capabilities, along with the expanding use-cases and future outlook of the space.
  ​
• Over at Contrary Research, we have new reports on Chargebee, Instacart, Calendly, Gong, and Shopmonkey.

Foundations & Frontiers

As the world has grown more complex and interconnected, it has become more valuable to widen our aperture and take in the situation from above. Satellites have been our eyes and ears in the skies, helping us solve important issues concerning food security, greenhouse gas monitoring, scouting new locations to mine for minerals, offering better insights into economic activity on Earth alongside bolstering our communication networks, navigation, and national security.

​
Until the last decade, building and launching a satellite was a feat only a nation or a massive corporation could do. Today, we find ourselves in the midst of a massive transition, where launching machines into orbit can be an activity practiced by almost any entrepreneur or tinkerer. As the number of satellites and space-based services grow in the coming years, the ways in which we connect to the Internet, use our mobile phones and laptops, and even farm, will all change in tandem. This essay offers a glimpse of what life might be like in the midst of this satellite renaissance, and what still lies on the horizon of the space frontier.

Contrary Research

Contrary Research publishes thoughtful analysis of the best private technology companies. Here are the latest reports published this week:

​
Chargebee: The last two decades have witnessed a proliferation of subscription-based businesses. The global subscription economy was valued at $276 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to $599 billion by 2026. Chargebee offers a suite of products designed to support the spectrum of recurring revenue management, enabling subscription businesses to capture, retain and maximize revenue opportunities. Here’s a thread written by Contrary Principal Megan Kao breaking down the report, or you can read the full report here.

Instacart: Digital grocery shopping is growing faster than in-store grocery shopping, and makes up an increasing percentage of overall grocery sales in the US. In 2023, digital sales are expected to account for 11.2% of the $1.3 trillion in US grocery sales. Instacart is the leading grocery delivery company in the United States. The Instacart app allows customers to browse a wide selection of products from local grocery stores, place their orders, and have them delivered to their doorstep within hours. Read the full report here.

Calendly: The past decade has seen the widespread adoption of cloud-based productivity tools, enabling workers to streamline manual tasks and become more efficient. Calendly is an automation platform that allows users to schedule meetings easily. It has over 10 million users worldwide, and 200 million meetings have been scheduled using Calendly as of 2022. Read the full report here.​

Shopmonkey: The US is the second largest passenger vehicle market in the world, with more than 290 million registered vehicles. Automotive services include mechanical and electrical inspection, maintenance, and repair of automobiles. Shopmonkey is a cloud-based, modern management system that simplifies the complexities of running an auto-repair business from appointments, billing, and payments to ordering parts and managing inventory. Read the full report here.​

Gong: The traditional sales process is predicated on manual data entry into CRM systems and subjective assessment of sales information to optimize sales processes and conversations. By 2025, 60% of B2B sales organizations will transition from intuition-based selling to data-driven selling, merging their sales process, applications, data, and analytics into a single operational practice. Gong is a revenue intelligence platform that is driving digital transformation of B2B sales, providing revenue teams with data-driven insights that increase revenue, reduce churn, and drive productivity. Read the full report here.