Guides: Entrepreneurship Resources @ Pitt: Company Research

Overview

Researching supplier, partner and competitor companies can help you measure success of an industry nationally or locally and track growth trends. Company information can include number of employees, annual revenue, company products and services, and financial statements.

Search Tips:

Use industry reports, broker reports and news stories to identify major players.
Explain the current alternatives on the market, and be sure to describe what your advantages are. You might consider using a competitor matrix to help illustrate this.
Be sure to understand the difference between direct and indirect competitors.
Identify applicable NAICS industry classifications to help build lists of companies
Understand the difference between private and public companies and the amount of information that is publicly available.
Read company annual reports and financial filings such as the 10K, 10Q and 8K for information about company inner operations, supply chains and risk management.

Finding Company Information & Data

Best Bets

CB Insights This link opens in a new window
First time users will need to create an account with their Pitt email address using the sign-up link on the database landing page. For questions about this resource or the signup process, please contact ULS-BizRef@pitt.edu

CB Insights is a market intelligence platform that provides data-driven insights and research on startups, venture capital, and corporate innovation. It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze millions of data points on companies, investors, and industries, providing comprehensive information on technology trends, market opportunities, and funding deals. CB Insights helps organizations to stay ahead of the curve, track their competitors, and make informed business decisions.
Mergent Online This link opens in a new window
Mergent Online provides business and financial information for over 23,000 U.S. and international companies.
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Business Source Complete provides full-text business journals and hundreds of scholarly, peer-reviewed journals covering all aspects of business; marketing, management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and more.

Additional Pitt Databases

Capital IQ This link opens in a new window
Also known as S&P Capital IQ or Standard and Poor’s Capital IQ.
Capital IQ contains detailed financial information about companies and industries. You can screen for companies and create lists.
NOTE: Please review the FAQ for information on terminal/workstation access in the library and individual accounts.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Provides full text and citation access to information in the reference, business, medical, and legal disciplines. [Formerly titled: Academic Lexis-Nexis]
Pittsburgh Business Times This link opens in a new window
To access the Pittsburgh Business Times, please register using the following link: Register with the University of Pittsburgh. Once you create an account you will get to a page where you can select the University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Business Times. If you already have an account you can sign in from this page. You may need to go to their account tab and under the Subscriptions, Licenses & Access page there should be a box to select our subscription.
If you encounter any issues with this, please contact the business librarian at chd84@pitt.edu.
Please note that you may need to access this via a non-Chrome browser, as issues have been encountered when using Chrome.
Uniworld This link opens in a new window
Use Uniworld when you are looking for U.S. companies operating in foreign countries or foreign countries with operations in the United States.

Carnegie Library resources require a library card. Click here for more information.

Mergent Intellect
Private and public U.S and international business data, industry news, facts and figures, executive contact information, and industry profiles.
A to Z Databases
Search for information about businesses, jobs and people. AtoZdatabases is ideal for developing sales leads, mailing lists, market research, employment opportunities and much more.
ReferenceUSA
Search for new and existing businesses by industry code, name or keyword. Build lists of companies geographically.
Regional Business News
Regional Business News includes comprehensive full text regional business information from newspapers, local trade publications and newswires. Find coverage of local businesses in the United States and Canada, emerging industries, and information for business planning.

ThomasNet
Online access to the Thomas Register of American Manufacturers. Sourcing information on industrial products and services, including supplier catalogs and CAD drawings
PA Department of State Corporations Bureau
Search for specific Pennsylvania registered businesses.
US Securities Exchange Commission Edgar
All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Anyone can access and download this information for free.

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Business Source Complete provides full-text business journals and hundreds of scholarly, peer-reviewed journals covering all aspects of business; marketing, management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and more.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Provides full text and citation access to information in the reference, business, medical, and legal disciplines. [Formerly titled: Academic Lexis-Nexis]
Regional Business News This link opens in a new window
Regional Business News provides comprehensive full text for regional business publications (including titles from Crain Communications). This database has full text for more than 50 sources and 67 periodicals indexed and abstracted.

University of Pittsburgh Library System

Course & Subject Guides

Entrepreneurship Resources @ Pitt

Looking for more?