My 2022 Predictions
Happy New Year to you and your family! In addition to well wishes for 2022, I also wanted to take a minute to kick off 2022 with some predictions for the year! Some of my own, but also let you know what predictions I am following from others.
Happy New Year to you and your family! In addition to well wishes for 2022, I also wanted to take a minute to kick off 2022 with some predictions for the year! Some of my own, but also let you know what predictions I am following from others.
Visited Moraine Lake in Alberta, Canada in 2021.
An investment theme I am closely watching as we head into 2022?
The Artificial Intelligence tools & APIs recently released for software developers enable an entirely new level of automation for software platforms. One example, GPT-3 is a text-based A.I. model from Elon Musk & Sam Altman’s company Open AI that you simply prompt with plain English text, and it will generate an incredibly accurate response. What is fascinating to me is how these AI models continuously improve, to the point that GPT-3 can now even code portions of your app for you, from something as simple as a prompt that says “create a user signup screen.” And within a few seconds, GPT-3 will write all the code, and the browser will render the page with a brand new, fully functioning signup screen. This simplicity and open access will unlock the door for a whole new generation of founders and builders.
What's a trend that is buzzy but will take some time in 2022?
Everyone is talking about the impending third phase of the internet called Web3, which the builders and users decentrally own, orchestrated with tokens. I love the concept of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations or DAOs as I believe they could be the next evolution of what a company is.
I do think the path blockchain technology is on will take the internet closer to this Web3 vision of the future. However, I have spent some time personally building in this space with my company Finta, which provides fundraising software to founders and diligence tools to investors. Finta originally started as a project called Equity Token and through that work, I have seen firsthand how important it is going to be for the SEC to modernize and clarify its securities regulations for a world where tokens can flow freely in a decentralized environment while still representing equity ownership.
Andresson Horowitz recently advocated that the U.S. government create some policy guidance for entrepreneurs to build within. Otherwise, these web3 innovations might happen outside U.S. borders.
What's a development in fundraising founders should know?
Venture Capital is at an all-time high. According to Crunchbase, “prior to 2021, global funding had not reached over $100 billion in a single quarter. Funding in 2021 has far superseded that amount, with the first quarter tracking at $135 billion, the second quarter reaching $159 billion, and the most recent quarter peaking at $160 billion.”
While access to capital is at an all-time high, and we live in a world where fundraising announcements receive constant glory in the press, the outside appearance to other startup founders can be that fundraising rounds constantly happen with little effort. But the data show’s that most founders log over 100 meetings with different investors to eventually secure the investment they need to safely have 18-24 months of runway in front of the company.
So I want founders to remember that they are not alone and should keep fundraising beyond any initial rejections. Don’t take the rejection personally and use the feedback to improve your pitch for the next investor. I find it has been helpful to get founders into the mindset of thinking about the fundraising process more like a sales process, but this time the product is just different. Instead of a good, you are selling equity in your company. The right investors for your company are out there; you just need to find them so they know you exist. Keep going!
Other 2022 Tech Predictions I Am Following:
Scott Belsky, the founder of Behance and Chief Product Officer at Adobe, put out a great article yesterday on the “10 Forecasts For The Near Future Of Tech”.
Every year Fred Wilson publishes his predictions for the next year and here is Fred’s predictions for 2022. I have to agree that the carbon and climate tech spaces are def heating up, from what I am seeing. What I love about how Fred does this each year is that he also recaps what he got right and wrong the previous year. You can read his 2021 as well.
Finally, The All In Podcast has become one of my favorite listens this past year, and the besties released their tech predictions for 2022 in the latest episode, which you can watch on Youtube or listen to the podcast. The whole episode is good, but a great segment worth listening to on payment rails in fintech, starting at the 27 min mark.
I hope you enjoy the new year and wish you the best of luck in 2022!
Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021!
Each year, I like to write a short post for the New Year. Turns out my last one was in 2019 and I didn’t write one for 2020. We all know how that went, so I figured it was probably in the world’s collective interest for me to write a post for 2021.
Each year, I like to write a short post for the New Year. Turns out my last one was in 2019 and I didn’t write one for 2020. We all know how that went, so I figured it was probably in the world’s collective interest for me to write a post for 2021. 🥳
I think we can all safely say that 2020 did not go how any of us planned. When we started my new company Finta, we certainly did not anticipate doing so during a global pandemic. When Colleen went into labor with our first child, I had certainly not expected to be kicked out of the delivery room. It has been a wild year. Even with all the unpredictable events of 2020, when I look back on the year, I think there is still a lot of beauty to be seen.
We welcomed Siena into our lives, and I can honestly say, fatherhood was hands down my favorite part of 2020. Watching her explore and learn about the world around her is fascinating to experience. And the smiles she gives us are pretty epic too!
This year we spent a lot more time with family, immediate and extended. Taking a small step back from the constant grind of work & meetings to find a more stable work-life balance is something I am very grateful for this past year.
Speaking of work, we put our heads down at Finta this year, talked to hundreds of founders, and built, built, built product! I am incredibly excited about where we have arrived with the company (and where we plan to go)!
2020 was a year of change for sure. Change that I feel confident has set a strong foundation for 2021. A year which I am looking forward to quite a bit!
I wish you and your family a happy, healthy, and fortunate new year! Thank you so much for being here, and I look forward to sharing some of the exciting work going on behind the scenes, with you very soon! - Kevin
Happy 2019!
I usually write a short blog post for the New Year. Even something as simple as Happy Holidays or Happy New Year; and this year I wanted to share a little as well! I shared a bit in my last post on how everyone can create a personal plan for 2019. I wanted to also share some of the areas I will be focusing on improving in the new year.
Happy New Year!
I usually write a short blog post for the New Year. Even something as simple as Happy Holidays (2015) or Happy New Year (2016); and this year I wanted to write a little as well! I shared in my last post how everyone can create a personal plan for 2019. Today I wanted to also share a few of the areas I will be focusing on improving in the new year.
One area of improvement for me in 2019 is this blog. I truly enjoy sharing my thoughts with you. The process of sitting down and working through my ideas is immensely rewarding and clarifying. It can be really hard to be creative at times though. What I have learned through almost fifty episodes of podcasting and over five years of blogging is that true creativity requires space and time to work itself out. One of my favorite discussions on this topic is between Howard Stern and Paul McCartney and was put on my radar by Fred Wilson. Howard and Paul are discussing the creative process Paul used to write many of the songs for The Beatles and throughout his career. The main point Paul makes is to make sure you afford yourself the time to create. And how sometimes that can mean stepping out of your comfort zone.
This past year my goal was to write one blog post per week and every 7 days I would watch myself fail to publish on time. Watching yourself fail week after week doesn’t feel great and can be demoralizing the overall goal. I try to be self aware enough to swallow my pride and recognize when I am failing at something, and then adapt when it’s time for a necessary change. So my new goal for 2019 is to write one longer form blog post per month. The first of which, I published last week for December! I am excited to share deeper and more thoughtful posts going forward.
Another personal goal for this year is better sleep. Thanks to a recent family member, I have started tracking my sleep with my Apple Watch using the AutoSleep App. It’s a great app and through the first week of tracking I was surprised to see just how little deep quality sleep I have been getting. So in 2019 I am going to focus on improving the quality of my sleep instead of just adding to the quantity of hours slept. If you own an Apple Watch I highly recommend giving AutoSleep a try.
Those are just two of the many improvements I hope to make in the coming months! I wish you the best of luck with your goals and plans in 2019! I hope you had a Happy Holidays and I wish you a Happy New Year! 🎉
🎊 🎉 Happy New Year 🍾 🥂
Life is what you make of it and being as I only have a limited number of years to live I refuse to declare one of them sucked. So with that I wanted to reflect on the wins of 2016!
The consensus on 2016 seems to be the same everywhere you look. After a year of campaigns, Zika, Brexit, exploding batteries, the loss of greats like Muhammad Ali, Prince, David Bowie, Harambe and more; many people (so many people) have said 2016 sucked. Negativity has become rampant across society, but in my opinion; Sic Vita Est (Thus is life).
Life is what you make of it and since we all only have a limited number of years to live, I refuse to declare one of them as having sucked. So with that I wanted to shed the negative and reflect on the wins of 2016!
The biggest win of the year is that I had the most incredible woman in the world say YES when I asked her to marry me in July! We recently set the wedding date in 2017 and I couldn't be more excited.
This year I was also blessed to be able to work with 35 great founders and help them start new companies as they joined the Founder Institute New York family. We launched the new FounderX program this year and Ramphis Castro and I were awarded Best Ecosystem Builders of the Year for New York City across Founder Institute's 150 cities.
Last but certainly not least, I got to share my story and thoughts with you. There are now thousands subscribed to this blog. The Ambition Today podcast has shared numerous journeys to success over 25 episodes. Hopefully this has helped you, as that is always my goal. As 2016 comes to a close I am grateful that you are each a part of this community.
Even when it feels the world is not always so great, is important to still see the greatness out there, and within yourself.. So upward and onward into 2017! I am excited for the next year and hope you are as well! I can't wait to see where we take it.
Happy New Year! - Kevin