Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Economic Trends

1. The Rise of Twitch Streaming and e-Sports

A recently growing economic trend in the world is the rise of Twitch streaming and e-sports as a form of entertainment on the internet.

I found this trend as I'm an avid viewer of streamers on Twitch and I have seen it grow the past few years. Also, I found an article from www.pitchbook.com that illustrates the growth of it since it started.

With this information, I believe there is an opportunity to take advantage of is that the gaming industry saw an 18% increase in revenue from 2017 to 2018 alone. Video games have become more of a norm compared to the past few decades since they have existed. There are video games that cater to a lot of different audiences. Not only has the gaming industry seen a huge increase in investment, but the e-sports scene jumped from $500M to $700M in capital investment from 2016 to 2017. With Twitch streaming, people are able to watch their favorite streamers like Ninja, Shroud, and DrDisRespect from anywhere they can access Twitch's website. As they are watching their favorite streamers, viewers are exposed to the games the streamers are playing, the content they are providing, and the advertisements they are showing. Twitch's platform allows people to stream content to viewers and supports them directly for what they are doing.

The prototypical customer can vary greatly as Twitch caters to different target audiences all on one platform. There are channels for gamers to watch their favorite icons, channels for e-Sport fans, channels for cooking, and channels for IRL (in real life) streaming. 

The opportunity is relatively easy to exploit because access to Twitch is free. Anybody can set up an account to start streaming and gaining viewers to watch the content they are providing. The difficult part of it is figuring out the type of content you are going to provide and if the viewers will enjoy it.

When it comes to why I have seen this opportunity is that I have tried streaming before and I have experienced the slow growth of gaining viewers and followers to my channel. It shows that every streamer on Twitch will gain a viewer that is interested in the type of content they are providing to the viewers.

2. The Migration from Network Television to Streaming Services

Another obvious economic opportunity is the migration of companies aiming for streaming services instead of traditional television networks.

I found it as I am a Netflix user which is a popular streaming service, but I found it looking up network television and the migration from it to streaming services and found an article from www.twentify.com where they expand on a study done by Convergence Consulting Group back in 2016.

I believe this opportunity exists is that people are wanting to access the content they are looking for quickly and conveniently instead having to sift through channels and advertisements just to watch it. Not only is the convenience a huge factor that attracts people towards streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video but the cost is also a factor as well because the cost of a subscription to services like this is significantly cheaper than what it costs to have cable television in their homes. It's a great opportunity for already established television networks to develop new streaming services or buy into existing ones so viewers can consume their content.

The prototypical customer is the already established subscribers to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. It can also help tip the iceberg when it comes to people that still have cable television, but are leaning towards cutting the cord to cable television and subscribing to streaming services.

I think this opportunity will be relatively easy to exploit for already established networks that are looking into migrating their content to streaming services, but extremely hard for newcomers to the market because there is already established titans of the industry.

I think why I see this opportunity is that already of television networks are starting to look into this business idea since Netflix has seen such great success with streaming content on-demand and with the development of their own content being successful.

Regulatory Trends

1. Renewable Energy

When it comes to regulatory trends in the world, I believe the biggest one that stands out to me is the process of countries starting to transfer their main energy sources to renewable energy sources. Renewable energy sources are a hot topic right now because of the increasing concern for the welfare of Earth and the damage that has been done through the use of oil, coal, and other non-renewable resources.

I found the information from reading hundred's of articles on the forum "Reddit" and have been to countries like Germany where they have a huge focus on renewable resources like wind turbines and solar farms.

I feel like this is a good opportunity because a lot of countries around the world are starting to invest into the renewable energy industry and are actively lowering the carbon footprint that they are leaving on the world. Not only that, but there is a growing job market for the renewable energy industry while the coal industry is slowly dying since renewable is growing. Unlike the past few decades, renewable energy, conservation, and lowering their overall carbon footprint, it has become important to people to try to be as efficient as they possibly can and they are looking at politicians and companies that are dedicated to this effort. You can see that people are starting to invest in electric vehicles now and recycling has become a norm in society these days. Some are also investing in solar panels for their homes to lower their electric bills.

I believe the prototypical customer for this regulatory change is anyone that is interested in the renewable energy industry. I think the biggest players in the industry are companies that provide these services like solar panels, wind turbines and much more. Not only is it the companies, but the countries that invest in them to help transfer the country to sustainability.

I think it is relatively hard to exploit because it is still an expensive process to transfer completely to renewable energy resources while oil and coal are still relatively cheap. However, once the ball starts rolling, I think the process becomes much easier to maintain and establish.

I think 'why' I see this opportunity is that I think it is important to transfer from the energy sources that negatively affect the world like coal and oil to renewable sources because it will lead to problems for the generations that will come after us in this world.

2. Privacy of Data

I think another huge regulatory trend that is a major opportunity in today's society is the topic of privacy of people's data and how important it has become to people in who or what has access to their data on their devices.

Data privacy has been a hot topic on the internet the past couples and there has been an increase in people starting to invest into services that try to mask or hide their identity online and trying to keep companies from gathering data about them and who they are. Also, I found the opportunity through personal experience as I use a VPN (virtual private network) when I am browsing on my computer that masks my IP address as another in the world.

I think it is a big opportunity for companies that are trying to work into the industry of keeping peoples data safe from prying eyes that might want to use it for reasons that the users might not approve of. Privacy is an important aspect of a person's life and they don't their private matters jumping into the hands of someone that might aim to abuse that information for personal gain. I have also started seeing a lot more users become aware of data privacy and are taking active steps like using a VPN to mask the 'steps' they are taking when they are browsing the internet.

The prototypical customer for this would be users that spend a lot of time online that are wary of their data being spread around the network for others to abuse.

I think the opportunity is relatively hard to exploit because companies will need to have established backgrounds to be trusted by consumers around the world to use their software for private security. It is going to be hard for new entries into the market to gain a significant market share as people will be wary of who they are.

As for 'why' I saw this opportunity is my experience with researching to see how much of our personal data is actually available on the internet. It is very easy to figure out where someone is living out with a few simple Google searches and how people can track you easily using just your IP address.