Thanks for stopping by. This post marks the first on the Next Ventures, with many more to come.
It’s been quite the journey this year. The world is a different place. We’ve all had to question how the world works and what role we have to play.
It’s also been a time to hit pause, reflect, and be grateful for where we are and what we have. At NV we’re immensely grateful for remote work and the ability to build digital businesses from anywhere in the world.
I think Covid is the inflection point where humanity considers a digital remote first work mentality.
The business, finance and monetary landscape of the Western world has also changed pretty dramatically.
With all these changes it’s important to be prepared for a new world and new opportunities.
Here are 5 areas we think 2021 will be much different from the previous year and how we plan to adapt.
Decentralized Finance Will Open New Markets and Opportunities
We strongly believe decentralization of classical banking will open up new markets to consumers and investors. The overall monetary policy of large nation states will push more investors to scarce digital assets like Bitcoin.
We believe more companies will approach BTC as an effective treasury reserve and hedge towards inflation. This move will be driven now out of speculation, but rather out of necessity. With more than a third of the entire US money supply being printed since March 2020, the USD is quickly losing purchasing power relative to goods and other assets.
So it’s not all that surprising to us that, in the last month, several large companies have moved their treasuries into BTC, including MicroStrategy, Stripe, MassMutual, and several others.
Our Plan: We will use BTC as a treasury asset as well as an effective payment method for all contractors and employees.
Privacy Technology Will Be More Important That Ever
Censorship is a growing issue for people around the world. This problem has slowly crept into the political atmosphere of most of the West with some advocates speaking in favor of censorship for contrarian voices. We believe this is a fundamental challenge to the principles of a democratic and free society.
Beyond political censorship, we’ve seen censorship of credible experts – doctors, scientists – whose views go against mainstream narratives.
It’s interesting to think about more of the world becoming secret, encrypted, and — above all — search-resistant.
Signal and crypto are early pieces of this. But we will eventually have encrypted worlds within worlds, hosted on-chain. A hidden internet.
Our Plan: Activate build privacy promoting businesses and invest in new projects that further both education of privacy tech and adoption. We activate support and fund organizations like Citizen’s Lab and FEE.
Remote Work Will Change Everything (For Good)
Traditionally most digital firms have hired from a few countries. As more people move to remote work, we’re experiencing an explosion of highly talented freelancers and businesses around the world.
Combined with great team processes and company culture, we think remote businesses can build fantastic teams at a fraction of the cost.
Further, we believe that decentralized access to the internet, coupled with cheap, renewable energy that is 100% off the grid will lead to an emigration of knowledge workers from cities to more-open spaces. Covid has revealed that most people are at least as happy and productive working from home as they are working in large concrete and glass boxes offices.
With the ability to work from nearly anywhere with an internet connection and reliable power source, more people will choose to work from where they are happiest and most productive.
Our plan: We currently employ more than 60 people from over 13 countries and this coming year we plan to double our business in 2021. We value the unique insights and experience of people from diverse backgrounds to create a more inclusive and collaborative team culture.
Empowering Personal Finance
We’re back at point number one here. The value of self education in the quickly changing world of personal finance and investing is paramount to creating a more prosperous and free citizenry. It’s difficult for people to be sovereign individuals that own their own time without becoming educated on what is working in personal finance and what isn’t.
We believe that there are many fundamental paradigm shifts occurring in modern finance but still a considerable gap between those changes and public knowledge.
Our Plan: With one existing large business in the fintech space our plan is to substantially that business by offering more service and educational resources for modern day investors.
Be Grateful To Be Alive
I had to add this one in here. For those reading this, there is a good chance a good portion of you make a decent income online and enjoy a level of flexibility and intellectual freedom that most of the world simply does not have access to.
We believe the world is moving towards a more equitable place but there is still much work to do. Together digital entrepreneurs can help others.
Our Plan: We donate a % of NV revenue to various charities that focus on developing education and health for those in need.
Do these 2021 predictions seem on track, or way off? Let us know what you think lies ahead.
Thanks for stopping by.
Sia
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