Economic & Regulatory Trends

1. I found this information in the New York Times, in an article titled, "How's the Economy? Fed Increasingly Turns to Private Data." Recently, as we all know, the U.S. government experienced a shutdown and the Fed was trying to analyze consumer spending data because of fears over a potential trade war. The problem is, the Fed has historically accessed government economic data to make decisions regarding the state of the economy, but the government was shut down so the Fed couldn't access it. Because matters were so urgent, the Fed turned to private economic data, which they had never done before. The opportunity, in this case, is exploiting the Fed's newfound need for private economic data. The prototypical customer is the Fed or any other large companies that require big data. This opportunity is somewhat difficult to exploit; you would need extensive experience in data compilation and mining, plus you would have to compete with companies that already gather said data.

I saw this opportunity because I remember Dr. Pryor saying that there isn't a bigger business than the U.S. Government, so I thought if you could tap into their needs that would be a great opportunity.

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/02/05/business/bc-us-federal-reserve-big-data.html
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2. I found this information on Commercial Observer, in an article titled, "Real Estate Leaders Discuss How Technology Technology is Shaping Commerical Real Estate Trends in NYC." Commercial Observer hosted an innovator forum in NYC, where top companies involved with NYC's commercial real estate discussed trends in real estate innovations related to larger economic trends. There is a large need for technology-oriented real estate, one example being life science centers, which combine medicine, technology and science. New technological facilities are attracting companies and industries which haven't been there before. The opportunity is large, economically-active cities (NYC, Boston, Philly, Seattle, Austin, etc.) have a relatively new and rapidly growing need for next-generation highly technical facilities. The prototypical customers are the companies that need these kinds of buildings, such as life science, pharmaceutical, and research centers. This opportunity is also difficult to exploit because you would have to have experience with high-end advanced technology and large-scale real estate.

I saw this opportunity because I'm very interested in the way that technology is shaping and molding our world. Real estate is a prime example of an industry that will change as technology becomes more important.

https://commercialobserver.com/2020/02/real-estate-leaders-discuss-how-technology-is-shaping-commercial-real-estate-trends-in-nyc/
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3. I found this information on Statistica, in an article titled, "Barriers to greater investment in blockchain technology worldwide in 2018 and 2019." Blockchain is a relatively new technology that allows businesses to link data using "blocks," which is a secure method of encryption that relates every piece of data to the previous one. This technology allows data to be stored on a global scale. However, there are regulatory problems with implementing the use of blockchain. A world-wide survey of 1,386 companies indicated that the primary barrier to investing in blockchain technology is regulatory issues. The opportunity here is removing the regulatory barriers that these companies face regarding blockchain. The prototypical customer are the companies that would like to use blockchain (one example I know is Deloitte, which conducted the survey). This opportunity would be less hard to access. If anyone is familiar with blockchain and is willing to go to these companies to figure out what the specific regulatory problems are, they could likely lead reform that would financially incentivize the companies that want to use blockchain.

I saw this opportunity because it's another technology-related trend that needs to be rapidly addressed. Also, I realized that the market is massive because the opportunity is recognized on a global scale. 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/878686/worldwide-investment-barriers-blockchain-technology/
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4. I found this information on Financial Planning, in an article titled, "Voices: Regulations to Watch in 2020." The article lists regulations that will likely be hot topics in 2020; one such regulation is Congress passing legislation increasing SEC penalties on corporate lawbreakers. The movement was seen in 2019 and both Republicans and Democrats agreed that the penalties should increase, but ultimately the legislation never passed. The topic is expected to make a comeback this year. The opportunity is for lawyers willing to defend corporate criminals in the court. If the penalties actually worsen, I'm sure that corporate people will pay more for a lawyer. The prototypical customer is a corporate criminal and the people that should take advantage of this opportunity are lawyers, specifically ones that specialize in corporate law. This opportunity would be easy to exploit for experienced lawyers but relatively difficult for everyone else.

I saw this opportunity because I put myself into the guilty shoes of corporate high-rollers. If I were in their situation and new that penalties are likely increasing, I would want to hire the best lawyer possible and would be willing to spend a decent amount for it too.

https://www.financial-planning.com/list/cipperman-predictions-for-2020-regulatory-agenda