At TheClubDeal, besides evaluating business models on their mere financial potential, we want to understand in which trend the investment opportunities fit.
A good way of identifying trends and their timing is the echoing of crowd wisdom or public interrogation on medias or other supports.
A major hit in the film industry, last winter, was the release of the French film “demain”, where alimentary circuits, energy, financial solidarity or education were addressed. It all aimed at more collaborative and nature-friendly human behaviour. This market trend can be adopted by future clients of some new start-ups. We monitor that closely.
At TheClubDeal, we have a track record in identifying and structuring such deals answering new trend. Invested in car sharing, in mobility, or having structured and invested in theme parks, for instance, we have strong insights in the drivers which may enable value creation in such thematics.
It is to be noted that the particular timing of such investments plays here an even more important role as a major driver for potential capital gains.
Having interesting insights on trends with the many contacts we have with entrepreneurs and seasoned investors, we hereunder echo some more trends:
– uberization: uberization is certainly a buzz word in the startup world since some time now. Many startups’ catchphrases start with: we “uberize the … sector”. However, behind this sentence which could be understood several ways, we identify different trends.
- The optimisation of assets (productive or remnant assets). For productive assets, new technologies allow owners to extract value at times or through ways they were not designed for at the start. Even assets which were not deemed productive and were seen as a cost (personal cars, apartments, …) are suddenly turning into economic units.
- The commodification of services: a few years ago, a service was always rendered by humans. Today, services are massively turning digital, middlemen disappear, the sale cycle is dramatically shortened, costs go down and clients do buy services in larger quantities.
Being in the right trend is not necessarily a promise of success. It’s the right combination of a balanced team with great qualities and drive, the competitiveness of the solutions promoted, the strong governance which will between others form the basis for financial success.
