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Trends for Startups and Ideas to Build the Future

Back in November, I wanted to wrap my head around what was going on in the world. The world has been moving so fast, and if you’re looking to build a successful venture that can withstand some sense of time, I believe you have to either recognize where the world is going, or play a role in building the future.

At this time, I also read about how many brick and mortar retailers were employing new technology and ideas to combat online retailers, especially Amazon. Retailers will (some already are) tracking your every movement once you’ve walked into the store to understand customer behaviors. Heck, even gas stations such as Tesco are looking to install screens at gas pumps to target advertisements vis-a-vis facial recognition.

This got me thinking that to build a startup, you can also look at ways to help those who are on the brink of… death. Think about it. With the rise and quicker deaths (or barely living) of companies such as RIM (Blackberry), Kodak, Nokia, etc., it’s imperative for large companies who are far from agile to plant defenses for their own mortality. Perhaps, then, even dying companies when shown a grim future can be a hot market to address. I can’t help but think of also how companies like NCR and IBM pulling at their collars over the shifts from large antiquated point-of-sale (POS) systems to more agile mobile payment cloud solutions.

So, without further ado, I put together a spreadsheet (woo, spreadsheets) back in November trying to plot out some different trends I’ve been seeing. I’ve included the following fields to try to put some context on the trends in hopes of finding a good position to situate a startup.

  • Trending Towards. What’s the trend?
  • What is it? What is the trend?  What’s happening?
  • Key examples. Who’s involved in this movement?
  • Trending Away From (replacing). What are we moving away from?
  • Who’s Getting Shunned. Who is getting hurt?  Who’s losing market share?
  • Challenges. What are the hurdles of this trend?
  • Opportunities. How can this trend be further cultivated?  How can those getting hurt and losing turn the corner?
  • Opportunists. Who is capitalizing on this trend to not only be involved, but who is establishing themselves as a key winner from this trend?
My list is just as far as my eye can see, and so it’s apparent I’m not in the details of every industry, nor do I know of all the great startups already around. So, this list is definitely not exhaustive. If you’re looking for a copy of the above, just shoot me a message on LinkedIn and I’ll be happy to send it to you.
So what are your thoughts of the trends? What are some other trends you see we’re going?
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