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A VC's 5 predictions for 2015

] by Boris Wertz - partner @ version one ventures - one of the top tech early-stage investors in North-America and the founding partner of version one ventures. His portfolio encompasses over 40 early-stage consumer internet and enterprise companies, including Edmodo, Flurry, Frank & Oak, Indiegogo, Julep, Top Hat, and Wattpad. He sits on the boards of Clio and Indochino among others.

] We (sospep) are going to build a compiled list of predictions for 2015 from some of the industry leaders in the Venture Capital market.

] We (can/may) then use that list for guidance/direction in selecting companies for our startup companies portfolio.
] We may also track these "predictors" to see how accurate they turn out to be with their predictions.(for future reference FFR)

] fun - tracking - some of the most interesting startup companies in the world today

] who will be the next google? how will that companies product(s) change our lives, your life?

] the next important / interesting app, 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.

] We (sospep) are offering real money ( $ xxx.xx - canadian dollars) - in a winner takes all contest. Pick a team of startup companies to create your portfolio and then compare the performance of your portfolio to the rest of the players in the startup game.
] pssssssssst .... my top 3 tips on how you can win this game!!

We’ve seen Bitcoin adoption by major retailers like Overstock.com and Dell, but there’s still too much volatility and regulatory uncertainty for Bitcoin to be used as a mainstream currency in North America anytime soon.
I have long believed that Bitcoin is a beautiful and powerful technology, with great developer adoption—but where are the apps that solve real problems? We shouldn’t look for much traction with the current use case (payments in North America), as most consumers in North America don’t view the current payment system as broken and in need of a fix. Instead, look for a killer Bitcoin app to emerge elsewhere, like in international money transfers or remittances.

] There are always a ton of new enterprise apps ever year, each hoping to be "the next big thing" that changes the way we work. The common theme has been making apps more accessible (i.e. mobile) and smarter (i.e. machine learning and big data). Good examples are Slack for the first category and RelateIQ for the second. Expect both of these trends to take off in a big way in 2015.

] The game industry has been the first to really embrace the potential of VR; that’s why Oculus first launched its public prototype of Rift at a gaming convention. However, VR is an incredibly exciting area that can reach far beyond gaming. This Ars Technica article article describes a few examples from trauma treatment and classroom learning to marketing and film. In 2015, we will see the first major applications of VR outside the game industry.
*] + EXAMPLE - the province of BC produced a VR video to promote its tourism industry. The video is available to freely download for those who have the VR hardware, and the province will be taking the video and VR hardware on tour. ref CTVvancouver news story,

] This past year has brought accelerated funding rounds for emerging category leaders. As summarized in this TechCrunch article: ”the biggest winners win by staggering amounts compared to their competitors. What used to be perceived as a 5x or 10x gap in valuation between the winner and a runner-up is now more widely seen as between 100x or even possibly 1000x.” In a startup environment that’s noisier than ever, break-out companies have an increasingly easy job of raising tons of money at high valuations while the second and third runs in a category often struggle. This dynamic has just started to emerge and will accelerate through 2015.

] Predictions-2015 - a new sospep 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.

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