(public).sospep.subjects ~ view article ~ 2015-VC-predictions-compilation

<h1 style="text-align: center;">7 venture capitalists predict 2015</h1>
<h2>[WHAT]</h2>
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<li><strong>] by Jonathan Shieber (@jshieber) @TechCrunch.com</strong></li>
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<li>] Jonathan gathers the predictions of several&nbsp;different VC's(7) from a handful of different VC firms(5) to put together this list of 2015 predictions</li>
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<li><strong>]&nbsp;VC firms include ...</strong></li>
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<li>]&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nea.com/" target="_blank">NEA</a>,</li>
<li>] <a href="http://www.ivp.com/" target="_blank">IVP</a>,</li>
<li>] <a href="http://www.cueball.com/" target="_blank">Cue Ball Group</a>,</li>
<li>] <a href="http://www.generalcatalyst.com/" target="_blank">General Catalyst Partners</a>&nbsp;and</li>
<li>] <a href="http://www.mdv.com/" target="_blank">MDV</a></li>
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<li><strong>] collectively these firms have 22B $ under management</strong></li>
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<li>]&nbsp;so it's their job to predict(bet) the future</li>
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<h2>[WHY]</h2>
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<li>] We (sospep) are going to build a <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>compiled list of predictions</strong></span> for 2015 from some of the industry leaders in the Venture Capital market.</li>
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<li>] We (can/may) then use that list for&nbsp;guidance/direction in selecting companies for <strong>our startup companies portfolio</strong>.</li>
<li>] We may also&nbsp;track these "predictors" to see how accurate they&nbsp;turn out to be&nbsp;with their predictions.(for future reference FFR)</li>
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<li><strong>] PLAY &nbsp;"the startup game"-&nbsp;&nbsp;for fun &amp; profit </strong></li>
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<li>] see the "how to" section below for details on joining</li>
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<li><strong>] fun - tracking&nbsp;some of the most&nbsp;interesting startup companies in the world today</strong></li>
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<li>] who will be the next google?&nbsp;how will that companies product(s) change our lives, your life?</li>
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<li><strong>] fun - discovery</strong></li>
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<li>] the next important / interesting app,&nbsp; the next must have gadget, gizmo or trinket. The company making it is going to surface here long before you see it in the app store or read about it on theVerge.</li>
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<li><strong>] profit</strong></li>
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<li>] We (sospep) are offering&nbsp;real money ( $ xxx.xx - canadian dollars) - in a winner takes all contest. Pick a team of startup companies&nbsp;to create&nbsp;your portfolio and&nbsp;then compare the&nbsp;performance of your portfolio to the rest of the players in the startup game.</li>
<li>] pssssssssst .... <span style="text-decoration: underline;">my top 3 tips</span> on how you can win this game!!</li>
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<h2>[WHERE]</h2>
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<li><strong>] READ THE&nbsp;FULL ARTICLE</strong>&nbsp;</li>
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<li>] <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/31/7-venture-capitalists-predict-what-will-happen-in-2015/" target="_blank">http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/31/7-venture-capitalists-predict-what-will-happen-in-2015/</a></li>
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<h2>[WHEN]</h2>
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<li>] 2014-12-31</li>
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<h2>[EXAMPLE]</h2>
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<li><strong>[IaaS] cloud wars INTENSIFY</strong></li>
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<li>] by jon sakoda, general partner @nea&nbsp;-&nbsp;&nbsp;wars started years ago, but, largely speaking, Amazon&nbsp;has been uncontested and has quietly become the dominant player in the&nbsp;space. In 2015, Amazon will face a multi-front war as Google will launch&nbsp;its assault on Amazon&rsquo;s traditionally strong presence in the developer&nbsp;ecosystem, and Microsoft will combat Amazon in the enterprise market by&nbsp;re-doubling its efforts on Azure.</li>
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<li><strong>[CAPITAL] legacy titanics fractured</strong></li>
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<li>] by jon sakoda, general partner @nea&nbsp;- more &ldquo;unbundling&rdquo; of legacy software companies. The&nbsp;disruptive forces that have pushed HP and Symantec to break up their&nbsp;operations in order to compete with new entrants will accelerate as&nbsp;activist investors and private equity owners push to maximize the value of&nbsp;these existing assets. Look for significant moves from Microsoft, EMC,&nbsp;VMware, Citrix, and Dell in the next year.</li>
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<li><strong>[PAYMENTS] payments</strong></li>
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<li>] by Tony Tijan, Chief Executive and Managing Director, Cue Ball Group - Despite heightened focus, increased investment dollars and strong media buzz around a revolution in the payments space, there has been relatively little tangible change in the way we pay for things. NFC payment hasn&rsquo;t taken off despite the introduction of Apple Pay, POS integrations are incredibly fragmented and interchange fees are being driven toward zero.</li>
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<li><strong>[WEARABLES] wearables</strong></li>
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<li>] by Tony Tijan, - much excitement around wearable technology, but practical usage isn&rsquo;t quite there so adoption has been low. While there were some notable product releases, wide-spread adoption and everyday use is still not at hand. For that to happen, creators need to figure out use cases and applications that genuinely simplify everyday tasks, rather than complicate them. 2015 will feature greater entrepreneurial enablement. For example:</li>
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<li><strong>[CAPITAL] bigger, better deals</strong></li>
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<li>] by Tony Tijan - With a 21 percent decline in funds but a 40 percent increase in dollars raised, we are seeing larger funds spread across fewer firms. In 2015 we can expect to see the average deal size increase with an uptick in later growth rounds.</li>
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<li><strong>] tech enablement creates&nbsp;more entrepeneurs</strong></li>
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<li>]&nbsp;by Tony Tjan - Real-time and mobile services have empowered a new segment of workforce that thrives on flexible and independent work. This has enabled those that aren&rsquo;t able to (or simply don&rsquo;t want to) fulfill 9-5 jobs to enter the workforce and creates a prevalence of non-traditional careers in services.</li>
<li>] In 2014&nbsp;the U.S.&nbsp;has 18 million independent workers. Expect that number to increase at sharp rates in 2015.</li>
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<li><strong>?] government creates more entrepeneurs</strong></li>
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<li>]&nbsp;by Tony Tijan - 2014 saw changes in policy that enable the entrepreneur with greater independence and freedom. More lenient immigration policies will allow people to pursue entrepreneurship, while affordable individual health care makes traditional employment less of a draw. These policy changes will drive a massive influx of entrepreneurs in 2015 and beyond.</li>
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<li><strong>[SaaS-Ent] deconstruction of tradittional IT apps</strong></li>
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<li>] Steve Herrod, Managing Director, General Catalyst Partners - &nbsp;Independent of whether this will be driven by startups or by Google, there will be a shift in how and where companies do business in the future leveraging SaaS models and moving away from the stranglehold of traditional ENT software vendors like Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and others.</li>
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<li><strong>[IaaS] network virtualization</strong></li>
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<li>] Steve Herrod, -&nbsp;Virtualization will continue to rise in popularity and finally take the main stage in networking &ndash; we have seen this starting to take place with the acquisition of Nicira and ACE.</li>
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<li><strong>[SECURITY] there will be hacks </strong></li>
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<li>] Steve Herrod, - As we move into 2015, security breaches will continue to happen as companies work to patch holes in current software and networks. Trying to stay one step ahead of hackers with the latest software or security features isn&rsquo;t going to be enough; companies will need to work together in order to combat and fight them off.</li>
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<li><strong>[MARKETPLACES] the end of the superstore in verticals</strong></li>
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<li>] by Neil Sequiera, Managing Director, General Catalyst Partners - First it was Circuit City, then Radio Shack, followed by Best Buy. There is still a place for Walmart and grocery stores but not vertical players in alternative commerce. That is were the web and mobile win. With companies like The Honest Company, there will be a rise of vertical commerce with a unique connection to the customer directly.</li>
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<li><strong>] downside to consolidation and failure of media properties</strong></li>
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<li>] by Neil Sequiera, - Consumers realize that this isn&rsquo;t a good thing &mdash; AT&amp;T plus Direct TV, Comcast plus Time Warner Cable. The fewer people there are to compete on the price of cable, phone and, most importantly, high-speed data, as well as provide thoughtful journalistic integrity is a concern and the consumers will realize this in 2015.</li>
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<li><strong><span style="background-color: #00ff00;">[SaaS-ENT] new enterprise trend</span></strong></li>
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<li>] by Katherine Barr, Partner, MDV - Labor and Workforce Innovation: Until a decade ago, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) were relegated to research labs, technical publications, and big-budget science fiction films. ML and AL have &ldquo;crossed the chasm&rdquo; and will have a profound impact on the way businesses work. Pairing human workers with machine learning and automation will transform knowledge work and unleash new levels of human productivity and creativity. Without the advances in automation, the swelling volume of data would overwhelm knowledge workers and cripple businesses</li>
<li>] COMMENT - Chad Kreimendahl &middot;&nbsp; Top Commenter &middot; Onspring Technologies - As someone who has worked for and consulted for large enterprises and now own an enterprise SaaS software company [and consulting company]... I think the thought that large enterprises will finally come around and move into the modern age is a dream. It will happen, over time, in the same way that the migration from XP and IE6 happened over a long period. We work with people, primarily on the consulting side, who only finally got off XP and on to win7 this year.&nbsp; While there are always exceptions, and the change is moving in the right direction, the vast majority of big businesses still don't want their private data in the cloud if they can avoid it. It's very easy to sell our product to young companies or more technologically advanced ones, regardless of size. It's maddening trying to sell it to people who still have an 11 year old version of Office, regardless of size. They can look at a great piece of tech and know it's the right choice, but just can't get it approved or get the movement of their leadership to help their company transition into the modern era.</li>
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<li><strong>[MARKETPLACES] new era retail and commerce innovation</strong></li>
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<li>] by Katherine Barr,&nbsp;The traditional retail infrastructure and supply chain logistics as we know it is being disrupted by companies creating new technology platforms and data-enabled distribution systems that have predictive analytics, better customer profiling, deeper consumer engagement, blended online and offline data, and more agile supply chains. The supply-chain has been fragmented and inefficient for years, particularity with the delivery of heavyweight goods to the consumer, which until now have been expensive and complex. E-commerce platforms are being transformed for the consumer and the manufacturer by leveraging powerful analytics and forecasting tools helping to alleviate &ldquo;last mile&rdquo; (i.e. from warehouse to consumer) problem that is the key logistics issue &ndash; where most of the cost, complexity and fragmentation lies, especially with the delivery of heavyweight items.</li>
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<li><strong>] Life Tech Will Take on New Life:</strong></li>
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<li>] by Katherine Barr, In life, time really is money, and a major source of time is spent on home and family tasks. Life tech allows digitally-enabled services, intelligent personal agents and mobile-device-enabled communication and collaboration infrastructure to truly optimize consumers&rsquo; lives. Similar to how ERP helped to organize the business side of our lives, life tech promises to organize the personal side of our lives In addition to companies like Nest. Other companies, such as TicketFly and Ruby Ribbon, have products and services that optimize, personalize and automate our lives as consumers and are creating a smart world that shifts and responds to our needs.</li>
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<li><strong>[CAPITAL] The IPO Market:</strong></li>
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<li>] Jules Maltz, General Partner, Institutional Venture Partners&nbsp;The IPO market will stay open, but a large number of tech companies will price their IPOs below the price of their last private financings.</li>
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<li><strong>[CAPITAL] The IPO Market</strong></li>
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<li>] Sandy Miller, General Partner, Institutional Venture Partners - <strong>Tech IPOs</strong>: I think 2015 will be the best year since the &lsquo;bubble&rsquo; for venture-backed tech IPOs. We have had a solid year in 2014 and the deals late this year are working well. There is considerable institutional investor appetite; they have made good returns on tech IPOs this year. Most importantly, there are an unprecedented number of high-quality, private, venture-backed tech companies of real scale ($50 million or more in annual revenues) and growth (30-50 percent top-line growth).</li>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>[REFERENCE]</h2>
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<li>] <a href="/view/article?id=4158" target="_blank">Predictions-2015</a>&nbsp;-&nbsp; a new sospep&nbsp;project. I am creating a portfolio of startup companies (you can too). The goal is to discover the next uber, before it becomes the next uber.</li>
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<li>] A compiled listing of VC predictions for 2015.</li>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</h1>

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