January 2021 Summaries

Starburst has announced it raised $100 million in Series C funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and existing investors like Index Ventures and Coatue, bringing total funds raised to over $164 million in the past year. The company, which initially achieved profitability without outside capital, aims to solve the problem of fast data access without requiring a centralized data warehouse by providing a single access point for analytics across various data sources. This decentralized approach, termed "the power of Optionality," allows users to maintain control over their data storage choices, whether it be RDBMS, Hadoop, or cloud services like Amazon S3 and Google GCS. Starburst's technology is built on Presto, now known as Trino, and offers an enterprise-grade distribution used by companies such as Comcast, Tesla, and Zalando, featuring enhanced performance, security, and manageability.

Starburst, a data warehousing company, recently announced a $100 million Series C financing round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with additional investments from Salesforce Ventures, Index Ventures, and Coatue, elevating its valuation to "unicorn" status. Despite this milestone, CEO Justin Borgman emphasizes that Starburst identifies more as a "workhorse" than a "unicorn," prioritizing authenticity, humility, and grit over flashy perks or superficial success. The company's ethos is rooted in sustainable growth and profitability, having been profitable for 10 out of the last 11 quarters. Borgman discusses the "Workhorse Playbook" in a Forbes series, advocating for bootstrapping, hiring "blue-collar execs" with a strong work ethic, and fostering a competitive yet supportive culture. The company aims to transform the data warehousing industry while maintaining its core values and long-term business sustainability.