When we build something from ground up, we want it to be as successful as possible. So, if you're an entrepreneur currently in the midst of searching for your next big multi-billion-dollar startup idea, then you're reading the write article.
Bryan Schreier, who is currently a partner at the much famous Silicon Valley-based Venture Capital firm Sequoia Capital, recently shared his predictions for where the next unicorn startups are expected to come from. In his nine long years at Sequoia, Schreier has placed his bet on startups like Dropbox, TuneIn, and Trulia, which have now become big names in their fields. Prior to Sequoia, Schreier has worked at Morgan Stanley and tech giant Google.
1) Companies Bringing Together Sophisticated Technology With Hands-on Operations
Citing the examples of Airbnb and Uber, Schreier explains that from the consumer side, it has been made very clear that we are currently in the age where the next $50 billion market cap company will be what we call a 'hybrid' that makes use of both technology and operations from a human perspective. Schreier believes that after Snapchat, the next three or four consumer IPOs can be expected to come from these kinds of hybrid companies.
According to him, even thought technology has matured to a certain extent now and a lot of white space has gone, but this maturing technology has also created a different set of opportunities altogether. "The new large markets that haven't been tapped into yet tend to be offline markets that are now coming online, sometimes because there's finally mobile connectivity or sometimes for other reasons. Uber is an obvious example where you want to disrupt the taxi industry once all the drivers have mobile phones and the phones have GPS," said Schreier in between sessions at the Insight Summit that wrapped up earlier this month.
According to Schreier, the potential for hybrids such as Uber is much larger than for pure technology companies. He backed this statement by stating some simple figures and said, "In core tech, we get excited about $5 billion market. Uber's market is a $60 to $70 billion market. Airbnb's market is a $100 to $200 billion market." Schreier also mentions that in order for these companies to take off they need a very large human workforce that works with the technology.
2) B2B System Of Record Companies
A system of record company provides a "single source of truth," which is a term that the tech industry often uses to describe all data pertinent to a specific function being gathered and accessible in one interface. ServiceNow, a cloud-based IT help desk software; Workday, an HR and ERP company and Salesforce.com are all examples of such companies.
In addition to this, Schreier believes that there is also an opportunity for system of record companies that can lend a helping hand to their business customers in taming Big Data.
He said, "There's this plethora of data available to companies and most don't have tools to deal with it. They've got all this data coming at them, and they're wondering, 'What does it mean to me?' So you've got companies working on that."
Schreier predicts that AI and data science are the future of the tech world, with AI finally becoming accurate enough to be used by people on daily basis in their cars and homes. According to him, the company that will win the self-driving war is the one that will have the most amount of data. Unfortunately, he doubts that there's much scope there for small companies or startups as it will be very hard to compete against the Googles and Microsofts of the world that have already accumulated so much data since their birth.
3) Augmented Reality Companies
Schreier has utmost confidence in both augmented reality and virtual reality. He believes that VR is still a technology that's just about to arrive. But, he feels, startup opportunities may be limited in the field as far as hardware side is concerned because tech biggies like HTC and Samsung have grabbed most of the market share for devices.
Talking about AR, Schreier believes that the field has a lot of potential, and not just for games like Pokemon Go. He is optimistic that the technology can extensively help professionals working on car or jet engines, give people working in warehouses a better idea of their inventory and even tell construction workers what's concealed within a particular wall, among many other users. According to Schreier, "There will be a number of interesting vertical software markets to go after."
So, if you have been sitting on a great idea in any of the fields mentioned above, now is the time to put your idea into action because you never know, that might be the next multi-billion dollar idea.
[Image: Business Insider]
Bryan Schreier, who is currently a partner at the much famous Silicon Valley-based Venture Capital firm Sequoia Capital, recently shared his predictions for where the next unicorn startups are expected to come from. In his nine long years at Sequoia, Schreier has placed his bet on startups like Dropbox, TuneIn, and Trulia, which have now become big names in their fields. Prior to Sequoia, Schreier has worked at Morgan Stanley and tech giant Google.
1) Companies Bringing Together Sophisticated Technology With Hands-on Operations
Citing the examples of Airbnb and Uber, Schreier explains that from the consumer side, it has been made very clear that we are currently in the age where the next $50 billion market cap company will be what we call a 'hybrid' that makes use of both technology and operations from a human perspective. Schreier believes that after Snapchat, the next three or four consumer IPOs can be expected to come from these kinds of hybrid companies.
According to him, even thought technology has matured to a certain extent now and a lot of white space has gone, but this maturing technology has also created a different set of opportunities altogether. "The new large markets that haven't been tapped into yet tend to be offline markets that are now coming online, sometimes because there's finally mobile connectivity or sometimes for other reasons. Uber is an obvious example where you want to disrupt the taxi industry once all the drivers have mobile phones and the phones have GPS," said Schreier in between sessions at the Insight Summit that wrapped up earlier this month.
According to Schreier, the potential for hybrids such as Uber is much larger than for pure technology companies. He backed this statement by stating some simple figures and said, "In core tech, we get excited about $5 billion market. Uber's market is a $60 to $70 billion market. Airbnb's market is a $100 to $200 billion market." Schreier also mentions that in order for these companies to take off they need a very large human workforce that works with the technology.
2) B2B System Of Record Companies
A system of record company provides a "single source of truth," which is a term that the tech industry often uses to describe all data pertinent to a specific function being gathered and accessible in one interface. ServiceNow, a cloud-based IT help desk software; Workday, an HR and ERP company and Salesforce.com are all examples of such companies.
In addition to this, Schreier believes that there is also an opportunity for system of record companies that can lend a helping hand to their business customers in taming Big Data.
He said, "There's this plethora of data available to companies and most don't have tools to deal with it. They've got all this data coming at them, and they're wondering, 'What does it mean to me?' So you've got companies working on that."
Schreier predicts that AI and data science are the future of the tech world, with AI finally becoming accurate enough to be used by people on daily basis in their cars and homes. According to him, the company that will win the self-driving war is the one that will have the most amount of data. Unfortunately, he doubts that there's much scope there for small companies or startups as it will be very hard to compete against the Googles and Microsofts of the world that have already accumulated so much data since their birth.
3) Augmented Reality Companies
Schreier has utmost confidence in both augmented reality and virtual reality. He believes that VR is still a technology that's just about to arrive. But, he feels, startup opportunities may be limited in the field as far as hardware side is concerned because tech biggies like HTC and Samsung have grabbed most of the market share for devices.
Talking about AR, Schreier believes that the field has a lot of potential, and not just for games like Pokemon Go. He is optimistic that the technology can extensively help professionals working on car or jet engines, give people working in warehouses a better idea of their inventory and even tell construction workers what's concealed within a particular wall, among many other users. According to Schreier, "There will be a number of interesting vertical software markets to go after."
So, if you have been sitting on a great idea in any of the fields mentioned above, now is the time to put your idea into action because you never know, that might be the next multi-billion dollar idea.
[Image: Business Insider]
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