More than a decade has passed since TechCrunch, the popular media outlet for financial and technology news, released the first version of Crunchbase. What started off as a relational database used to track the business and financial performance of tech startups has grown into an extremely valuable source of company information. Technically speaking, Crunchbase is still a database, but its sophistication allows users to take good advantage of valuable branding and networking opportunities.
It is important to note that Crunchbase is no longer an exclusive club where only tech startups and venture capital firms are allowed. Companies in the fields of finance, institutional banking, manufacturing, retail, and even real estate are now part of the Crunchbase dataset. The same goes for the professionals who work at these companies. If this sounds like Crunchbase is turning into LinkedIn, let’s just say the world’s most popular social network for business gets a substantial amount of its data from Crunchbase.
What Crunchbase has been doing over the last few years is something similar to what Facebook attempted to do in 2013 when it introduced the concept of a social graph, which consists of the mapped relationships of an information network. You may not immediately think of Crunchbase as a social network because we mostly view it as a business directory, but this data-as-a-service company has built quite a few social media features into its massive dataset.
Tech industry analysts who have been following Crunchbase over the last few years will tell you that the company is moving in a direction to compete directly against LinkedIn, which happens to be owned by Microsoft. It is difficult to envision a company such as Microsoft allowing Crunchbase to gain a competitive edge over LinkedIn, but this could happen in the near future if Crunchbase continues to expand the functionality of its business graph.
As the situation stands in March 2022, the Crunchbase graph uses Neo4j database system technology, which is one of the most advanced in terms of Big Data collection and management. The company has not yet revealed precise plans on how the graph will be expanded, but analysts believe that both Crunchbase and LinkedIn are locked into an ambitious race to develop the world’s most sophisticated and extensive economic graph, which will map more than just data related to individuals and business entities.
This ongoing development of the economic graph is what modern business owners and professionals should keep in mind. Perhaps you have heard about the importance of keeping your LinkedIn profile updated; the same can be said about maintaining a presence on Crunchbase. In 2022, recruiters and headhunters say that job applicants without LinkedIn profiles are not likely to get hired; Crunchbase could be heading in a similar direction, which is why you will want to create and manage relevant profiles in this powerful database.
Crunchbase profiles give companies recognition, legitimacy, and a significant boost to their online presence. In other words, this database is becoming a pillar of the online branding experience for the business world. The networking opportunities provided by Crunchbase have been there since the beginning because the directory was created for the specific purpose of connecting venture capital firms with tech startups. Along with LinkedIn, the importance of getting verified by Crunchbase as a business or as a professional cannot be understated.
