Private-equity firms are coming around to the idea of using more data in the investment process. It's still an uphill battle.

Hiya. It's Dan DeFrancesco in NYC, and I'm trying to figure out a way to cook these mashed potatoes with 30 cloves of garlic (!) without getting evicted from my apartment due to the smell.

Today we've got stories on why everyone is blowing the whistle on their employer while they WFH, crypto trends to look out for in 2023, and what you should be ordering from Starbucks.

But first, I've got some data I think you should take a look at.

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1. Data can be a dealmaker's best friend.

It has long been said that data is the new oil. If that's the case, private-equity firms are starting to wake up to the fact they're sitting on top of the Permian Basin.

While data analysis has permeated throughout most enclaves of Wall Street, PE remains one space where old habits die hard and dealmaking is still left almost entirely to the humans.

Slowly but surely, however, progress is being made.

Take Blackstone, which recently expanded a data tool it originally built for its real-estate business to be used across its PE portfolio. The tool, called Data Direct, is meant to aggregate various sources of data in a clean, accessible way to help Blackstone investors manage their deal pipeline and existing portfolio, Insider's Carter Johnson and Bianca Chan report.

PE leaning more on data has been a slow, but interesting, build.

As recently as just a few years ago, PE firms were just starting to warm to the idea of building out data-science teams. And even then, some weren't buying into it.

Fast forward to today, and some progress has been made, but we're still a ways away. A key piece of being able to use data in the most efficient way possible usually means leveraging the public cloud. The tech allows firms to run data analysis and manage multiple sets of information more easily than working with traditional, physical servers.

But that tech has been a hard sell for PE firms as well, until recently. Many PE firms are just now waking up to the possibilities of the public cloud.

To be fair to PE firms, figuring out how to incorporate data analysis into the investing process is no easy task. While other areas of Wall Street are ripe for having humans be supplanted by the data (e.g. trading), dealmaking, at least for now, still requires a personal touch.

So you're left trying to marry these two worlds — traditional dealmakers and data scientists — together, which is no easy task.

Just ask folks in the trading world trying to blend together fundamental and quantitative strategies, aka a "quantamental" approach. What on paper might seem like a great idea — "Hey, we get the best of both worlds" — is a difficult feat due to a differences in culture and responsibilities.

Click here to read more on Blackstone newest data tool for its PE portfolio.

In other news:

2. The end of crypto? Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, suggested potentially banning cryptocurrencies in the US during a recent interview. Here's what he said.

3. But just in case it does stick around, these are the trends you should look out for. From the rebirth of NFTs (remember those things) to the rise of Web3, here's where 13 top investors say you should place your bet.

4. Finding someone to run a massive investment firm is tougher than it looks. Carlyle Group won't name a new CEO before the new year, as the firm's board still debates whether or not to go with an internal or external hire, Bloomberg reports. Here are some of the top candidates.

5. Investment returns to die for. Savvly is a startup that pays its investors out the longer they live, RIABiz reports. Read more about the anti-life insurance.

6. People are blowing the whistle on their companies while they work from home. Working from home has sparked a 136% surge in whistleblower complaints. Here's why.

7. This public college is proving to be a better breeding ground for quants than prestigious, private universities. Baruch College, part of the City University of New York system, might not be as flashy as Princeton or MIT, but it's created a pipeline into top financial firms, Bloomberg reports, and all for a fraction of the cost. Read more about the so-called Quant U.

8. Credit Suisse isn't a fan of the comment section. The Swiss bank is suing a finance blog over stories, and the comments that appeared underneath them, related to Ulrich Körner taking over as CEO, The Financial Times reports. More on the suit here.

9. So about that résumé... George Santos, an incoming GOP congressman, might have taken some liberties with his résumé, including his employment history at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, according to a report from The New York Times. Here are other details about Santos past that don't seem to be adding up.

10. Take a break from cold brew and try something new. A Starbucks barista shared the top five hot drinks you should try ordering. Check them out here.

Curated by Dan DeFrancesco in New York. Feedback or tips? Email ddefrancesco@insider.com, tweet @dandefrancesco, or connect on LinkedIn. Edited by Jeffrey Cane (tweet @jeffrey_cane) in New York and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.