Software is Eating the Markets

Software will eat financial markets, cut out middle men, and turn investing into an experience from which consumers get more than a financial return. Still, only a relatively wealthy subset of consumers participate in financial markets; for software’s impact here to be truly revolutionary, it will need to increase access and participation in the ma... See more

Taken together, new technologies and financial products are blurring the lines between investing, consuming, experiencing, and participating. COVID was a catalyst; will the shift persist?

We are in the earliest innings in this space, but I’m now more bullish on crypto than ever before because it is both an inflationary hedge and a way to empower new forms of ownership in a world that is trending towards everything becoming an investible asset.

Technology, new fund structures, and regulatory changes are combining to work their magic here, too. Platforms like AngelList and Forge give regular (albeit, currently, high net worth) people the opportunity to access high risk, high reward venture investments, from early to late stage, and even in the public markets.

One of the reasons that angel investing in the Bay Area was such a status symbol is that it was fairly exclusive.

We will see more products that make owning stocks feel like owning a piece of the company itself over time, whether from existing startups or new entrants. One idea would be to create a digital equivalent of AmEx’s “Member Since ‘00” card for stock ownership. I would love to show off the fact that I’ve owned Shopify since $89 and SNAP since $20 wit... See more

Consumer investors can now get access to professional-quality data through tools like Atom Finance and TIKR, which offer lightweight Bloomberg Terminal functionality at a fraction of the cost.

Like mobile gaming, new investment platforms will grow the overall investing pie.

But while each new form factor or delivery method for music stole share from the previous generation, new forms of video and video games increased the size of the overall pie.