← CB Insights
CB Insights role-play cheat sheet
For the mock cold call at the end of most SDR interviews.
What they sell, in one line
A subscription platform with data on private companies, used to spot trends, startups and market shifts.
Who you'd be calling
Heads of corporate strategy, innovation, corp dev and venture teams at large companies; investors and consulting teams.
Your opener
“Hi [Name], this is [You] from CB Insights. I know I'm calling out of the blue. Do you have 30 seconds to hear why I called, and then you can tell me if it's worth continuing?”
Problems you solve for them
- Hard to know which startups and technologies are rising before everyone else sees them
- Research is slow, scattered across many sources and quickly out of date
- Strategy and M&A teams need trusted data to back up big decisions
Discovery questions to ask
- How does your team currently track new startups and emerging technologies in your space?
- When a leader asks 'who should we partner with or acquire,' where does the research start?
- How much time does that research take, and who does it?
Objections they'll throw at you
“I'm really busy right now.”
→ Totally get it, I'll be quick. Can I take 30 seconds to say why I called, and if it's not relevant I'll let you go?
“I'm not interested.”
→ Fair enough, I haven't said much yet. Out of curiosity, is tracking emerging companies not a priority this year, or is it just covered already?
“We already use something for market research.”
→ That's good, it means research matters to you. What do you like about it, and is there anything it doesn't cover, like early signals on private companies?
“Just send me an email.”
→ Happy to. So I send something useful, what topic or market matters most to you right now?
Competitors worth knowing
PitchBook, Crunchbase, Gartner
Interview tips for this company
- Learn what 'predictive intelligence on private companies' means in plain words, and be ready to say it in one simple sentence.
- Use the free content on their site, like reports and trend pages, to prepare a relevant example for your opener.
Written from public information about CB Insights to help you practice. Ask an insider what their role play looked like; it's the best prep there is.