Technology Investment Insights from today’s top VC’s

What the World’s Experienced VC’s are Saying about Technology Investments The New York Times published an article in May of this year about a 96-year-old secretary from Brooklyn, Sylvia Bloom, who at the time of her passing had amassed a $9 million fortune. Her strategy? Anytime her boss at the law firm bought a stock, she would go and buy the same one. She followed this strategy for some 67 years and built a fortune in the process. In addition to underscoring the power of saving and investing over long periods of time, we think Mrs. Bloom’s story affords another straightforward, but valuable lesson: following the smart money can deliver good ideas. Fast Company recently conducted a survey where they asked eight power players from the venture capital (VC) world where they saw blossoming opportunities in technology and start-ups. Though VC money does not always equal ‘smart money,’ their responses at least offer unique insights into some very intriguing technological applications and industries being targeted. Below, we summarize what we saw as the most interesting ideas and concepts to come from the survey, which may also translate into investment ideas for the future. How Can Artificial Intelligence Augment Human Work? Haylay Barna of First Round Capital is interested in how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can complement human work, versus the often-feared outcome that AI will replace humans over time. If Artificial Intelligence and machine learning can handle the automatable, mundane tasks, that can free up humans to pursue more service-related tasks or even move up into management roles. As Barna put it, AI applications that can give humans “superpowers.” She is also interested in “community-based” projects associated with real estate, such as coworking spaces. Specifically, coworking spaces that target specific constituencies, like women. This concept has already seen some traction with the likes of companies like WeWork, but could spread to other parts of the economy as well. Will E-sports Become a Multi-Billion Dollar Business? Vas Natarajan of Accel thinks so. He is impressed with not only the gaming industries growth, but also immense growth in the events surrounding the gamers. These days, there is an entire sub-industry around gaming competitions where an audience shows up to watch people play video games, in an arena-like format. Just like crowds sell out for NBA and NFL events, so too can gaming events draw crowds and sell tickets and merchandise. The investment implications could span into real estate plays, offshoot event planning and promotion companies, and more revenues for the gaming companies. It May Not be a Matter of If – But When – Driverless Cars Rule the Road Benedict Evans of Andreesen Horowitz uses the word “when” in referring to a future with driverless cars, buses, and other vehicles. But where he sees interesting investment opportunities is in how vehicles can be fundamentally re-designed to be solely for passengers, and also how cities and infrastructure can creatively respond to save space and add efficiencies. Biotechnology Applications in Medicine and Food Vijay Pande of Andreessen Horowitz is focused on the world of biotech, and where it’s going. In the world of medicine, Pande sees a lot of promise in using technology not only to better treat cancer, but to better detect it much earlier than ever and with higher accuracy rates. Not only would this type of technology have immense life-saving implications, but it could also save enormous amounts of money in health care costs over time. On the food front, new advanced in biotechnology could potentially make fruits and vegetables last up to three times longer, which could increase shipping distances available to farmers to deliver fresh fruit, reduce food waste, and aid poorer countries that have less access to electricity. Optimizing Healthcare Bob Kocher and Bryan Roberts of Venrock both weigh in on how companies can use technology to optimize how we receive healthcare. Kocher looks for digital health companies that are designing new ways to reduce costs, more efficiently deliver healthcare, and improve outcomes. Roberts sees a definitive trend in the next 5 to 10 years where healthcare will become “more personalized, more data-based, [and] more genetic-based,” and where information about the patient will be much more thorough and available to providers. Better information arguably leads to better treatment. Making Buildings Smarter and More Efficient Brendan Wallace of Fifth Wall Ventures sees opportunity in using software in a building to conserve energy. He argues that since real estate consumes two-thirds of the US electricity market, it could mean an enormous amount of cost savings to have buildings smarter and running more efficiently. Also in real estate, Wallace thinks that in the future real estate will have different service applications, like on-demand self-storage, coworking, co-living concepts, and more. This idea is similar to what Ms. Barna of First Round Capital sees, and also what the company WeWork is already implementing. At Zacks Advantage, We’re Using Technology to Enhance Investing These rapid and exciting changes are not only unique to the technology, real estate, and healthcare sectors. The financial sector is also seeing rapid innovation that is giving investors cost effective, transparent, and unique investment tools and vehicles to grow assets over time. For investors, though, a big challenge still remains –That’s where Zacks Investment Management has innovated with new financial technologies and now offers an actively managed robo advisor that: - Automate the advising process. - Investing exclusively with ETFs - Uses technology to recommend the appropriate mix of equities and bond ETFs to help achieve your investing goal and specific risk tolerance. - Lowering fees and expenses For further information, we recommend you read our report: The Savvy Investor’s Guide [Get your copy of The Savvy Investor’s Guide]( © Zacks Investment Management | [Unsubscribe]( DISCLOSURE Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. Zacks Investment Management, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zacks Investment Research. Zacks Investment Management is an independent Registered Investment Advisory firm and acts an investment manager for individuals and institutions. 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