In order to create and execute our investment strategy we built a systematic research methodology.

With our research, we try to:

• take a global view on business drivers that propel change
• understand the direction these drivers are propelling change to find opportunities for investment
• meet, talk and follow other investors and entrepreneurs
• consistently update our funnels and filters of information to organize investment intelligence into actionable data

Research Structure

Our research is organized into three general categories. The content of the three categories often overlaps as many trends are very interconnected, but we find it useful nonetheless. The three categories are:

• Drivers: Worldwide phenomena or new technologies (way of doing things) that are fundamentally changing businesses and cannot be stopped.
  We try to understand how quickly these drivers are propagating globally and assess how much more growth can be expected. For example, Fire (100%) vs Electricity (87%).
• Winners: Companies, countries, organizations, or people that are winning at capitalizing on one or more of the drivers. A common denominator of these assets is the religious fervor people adopt towards them.
  We try to determine what other drivers a winner may attempt to capitalize on next. Will they create or accelerate a driver?
• Disruption: Markets where the drivers have enabled disruption and are pressuring the incumbents to adapt.
  In these markets, we see lots of opportunities for winners and new firms to create or capture value.

Sources of Information

Every quarter, we review a variety of sources to update our research and maintain up to date metrics. Sources can be financial statements, academic papers, news articles, analyst reports, and insights from professional investors.

Ideally, we track every statistic back to its primary source. Whenever possible, we verify the veracity of the source before including it.

We carefully document the sources for all datapoints collected so that all our research can be reproduced if needed. Ahead Members can request (stats@pirque.vc) the corresponding version's Excel Database.

Below is a general overview of the data we capture each quarter:

	2018			2019			2020				2021
	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1	Q3	Q4	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1	Q3	Q4
We reviewed this many articles:	434	387	341	401	796	681	856	1,105	1,306	1,312	1,240	553	730
From this many sources:	128	109	103	213	272	223	191	322	272	296	293	263	284
And read this many reports:	19	21	7	32	46	55	50	44	57	46	73	47	46
Updating this many lines of data:	1,394	1,324	1,087	1,170	1,267	1,351	1,435	1,677	1,699	1,230	1,357	1,468	2,105

Data details and Publication

Every quarter, we publish an updated version of our research. Our updated research is generally released within the first few weeks after the close of every quarter (i.e. every April, July, October and January).

Whenever possible, we update each piece of data as of the close of the last business day of the end of quarter. When a data point is older, we will usually note the year next to the datapoint.

Similarly, unless otherwise noted all published data should be considered to be global. If it is specific to a country or region, we will note this.

Most datapoints we publish are exact numbers, however we sometimes round figures as needed for the sake of clarity. Whenever possible we default to the International System of Units and its unit symbols and to other standards set by the International Organization for Standardization.

A full definition of abbreviations can be found here.

Research Integrity

While the topics we cover might be influenced by where we are invested (for instance we rarely invest in healthcare and do not cover the topic in depth), our interests have no influence on the data itself. The independence and integrity of our research is vital not only to our reputation, but also to our investment strategy and it’s a core unit of our company.

We are transparent about our financial interests in the companies that are mentioned. Please see our declaration of interests. We have never received any sort of compensation to promote a company or a product. However, if we do recommend a particular book or specific resource, we may include an Amazon affiliate link.

We welcome your feedback and comments. Please feel free to reach out to our team (stats@pirque.vc) with any corrections or notes. We are happy to make any amendments necessary. Contributions from readers with industry expertise is always very insightful and particularly appreciated.