Matters Graph Sector Coverage

The technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sectors are dynamic industries—undergoing massive disruptions over the last 10 years and providing investors with a combination of disasters, overpriced but highly lucrative wins, and neglected legacy or niche opportunities. And all of TMT—especially software—has also pivoted to become as often a “horizontal” intersecting with many other industries. These “verticalized technology” plays—AgriTech; ClimateTech; HealthTech; FinTech; Consumer Tech; EdTech; RetailTech; Ad/MarTech; PropTech; LegalTech; GovTech; and so on—each demand a unique combination of depth of verticalized experience with knowledge of verticalized technology exposure. Many plays often the full spectrum of technology—from software to hardware to software-enabled services and hardware-enabled software. One example: in RestaurantTech (a further niche verticalization of RetailTech), POS and kitchen systems come bundled and unbundled rolling together specialty devices, paid subscription services, implementation and support services, legacy software (POS and inventory) with SaaS competitors, and more. Similar examples can be drawn from industrials, healthcare, government and business services, and more. Technology often does not get fully credited with all this value creation in all of these industries; when these verticalizations are all combined, tech is by many measures the largest and most complex sector in both the U.S. and global economies.

Technology investors must be fluent in: adoption drivers and inhibitors (given potential for rapid growth); headroom for growth (given potential for “winner takes all” dynamics); segmentation, churn, and stickiness (given nicheness of many applications); drivers of choice (given tightness of competition and frequency of start-ups/new entrants); and more. Because of the immense operating leverage (very high fixed cost ratios) in most digital offerings, the stakes are incredibly high in getting these answer rights—and excellent Voice of “Customer” research is essential to navigating these complexities. Among the many stakeholders necessary to navigate are users and buyers (often distinct roles), competitors, implementation firms (channels), collaborators (OEMs vs. software), and more. Matters Graph has deep experience covering the entirety of the tech stack from fundamental hardware (silicon and data center infra) to networking hardware and services to software, digital marketplaces, and streaming entertainment. We have completed nearly 200 projects in TMT in the last few years alone—across nearly every verticalization of technology and up and down the stack.

Recent Technology and Media project examples include (for details on GRAPH diligence exercises that are covered by PitchBook, click on the PitchBook icons below to view deal details):