The Brazil Startup Dealboook project started in 2011, when Diego Gomes (co-founder of Rock Content) created a public Google Spreadsheet where anybody could insert information about startup deals in Brazil. Since then, hundreds of investors, entrepreneurs and journalists across the globe have used the database to monitor deal flow or to quickly access historic data for the region.
I have been a contributor for Dealbook since inception and recently I felt our community had outgrown the original spreadsheet format. Therefore, as a personal project, I decided to build the Dealbook 2.0 into an online application where we could add enhanced features beyond the limits of a spreadsheet, but hopefully retaining its simplicity.
So, here it is! I hope you enjoy it. And remember: this is an open project by and for the community, built 100% by the voluntary work of its members and with no commercial purpose. If you would like to contribute, read below about the different ways you can get involved.
-- Luciano
For read-only access to information on companies, investors or deals, simply:
- use the search box, or
- use the navigation menu to browse through all the records.
If you wish to insert or edit information, you need to create an account. Once you are logged in, you will be able insert new records or edit the existing information directly through the application.
Registered users also have access to the "Recent Updates" feed, which is a great way to monitor all the recent changes users have made. We encourage you to create an account, even if you don't wish to contribute.
- Please add and edit information carefully. Make sure all the information provided is accurate, preferably including a link to a reliable source.
- Sources should be reputable news publications or blogs (ex: Techcrunch), or the corporate website of the referred company or investor.
- Make sure you include a permanent link that will remain the same over the years. Broken links will be deleted.
- All new insertions will be automatically marked as "unverified". Deals that include a reliable source will be reviewed by the moderators and marked as "verified" if the information provided matches the source.
- If inaccurate information is inserted, moderators may revert the changes at any moment without notice.
- If moderators identify innapropriate behavior by a specific user, they may ban the user who will no longer have edit access to Dealbook.
Dealbook has full-text search capabilities. You may type one or more keywords on the search box and Dealbook will display all of the results that match your query. The most common ways to search are:
- Company name: returns all companies containing the keyword(s) in their name, as well as its investors.
- Investor name: returns all investors containing the keyword(s) in their name, as well as its invested companies.
- Markets: you may type in a market segment (ex: "mobile"), and Dealbook will return all the companies and investors that participate in that market.
- Location: you may type in a city, state or country (ex: "São Paulo") and Dealbook will return all the companies and investors in that region.
- Partial words: if you don't know the full name of the record you are searching for, you may simply type the first few letters and Dealbook will look for the records that best match the query.
The queries are case insensitive and also ignore accents. For example, typing "São Paulo" or "sao paulo" will yield the same results.
There are many ways you can contribute to Dealbook:
The simplest way to contribute is to create an account and start adding information to the database. You may want to keep Dealbook updated by adding new deals, or you may choose to add more details to existing companies or investors. You may also want to review existing information to make sure it is accurate.
If you want to level up, you may want to become a moderator. Mods have the responsibility to make sure users are following the guidelines and providing accurate information. Only mods may tag deals as verified, revert changes made by users and promote or ban users.
Moderator priviledges are reserved only to active members who have earned the trust of the community. If you feel that is your case, contact a mod.
Developers and designers are very welcome to contribute!
The simplest way to suggest new features or change existing code is to submit a pull request through Github. To do this, simply follow the instructions here. All requests will be analyzed and accepted if the change makes sense.
Active contributors may earn commit access to the Github repo.
(Designers: I have zero experience in design and would greatly appreciate some professional help. If you want to create a new design for Dealbook, contact me. It will be a great way to showcase your skills to all founders and investors in the community. Plus, I will personally hand you 1000 karma points.)
Suggestions, feature requests and bug reports are welcome! Please use the Github issues interface: [https://github.com/lucianot/dealbook/issues] (https://github.com/lucianot/dealbook/issues)
Dealbook is only as good as the contributions our users make. You can help by spreading the word on Twitter, Facebook, meetups, high school reunions. Let's get everyone onboard.
- Luciano Tavares (https://github.com/lucianot)
- Diego Gomes (https://github.com/dttg)