.. All of a sudden

"In the first quarter of 2020, the modern world changed forever."

This will be what the history books will say in the not to distant future. We are still in the middle of this dramatic and violent change, so it is hard to have perspective, but it is most likely the biggest scale shift to our civilization in the last 500 years.

To investors - either professionally, or just watching out for personal savings, things seem dire. Indeed they have been. However, things will start to turn as we make progress against the pandemic and the economic impact it is having. Today is not a time for panic, but rather a measured process of 'thinking forward'. We should be taking time now to put plans in place to go from 'where we are now' to a successful future. We still need to skate to where the puck will be..

For investors there has not been much good news, but in bad news there are usually opportunities for rebuilding. Opportunities for invention. Opportunities to do things better. Here are several key areas that drive opportunity for invention during these challenging times:

1. A 'recession opportunity'

• We are now, or will be, in a recession. (Perhaps a depression if this plays out for months.) In the short term, these events are very hard on businesses. However, the recovery phase presents an opportunity for economic growth. The investment strategy shifts from guarding against an inevitable downturn, to one where we feel like we can be making long term investments for growth.

2. A small planet

• The global rapid spread of Covid 19 demonstrated just how connected the world really is. 100 years ago it would take years to infect an entire planet (if it even happened). This happened in less than 90 days in our global economy. This tells us we are fundamentally more connected than many people thought, and we need to think more globally on all fronts. We are all in this together regardless of borders.

3. Tech of the remote / networked economy

• As we are forced to work remotely, we are seeing dramatic upticks in usage across all technologies that allow remote work to be done. Much of this had been possible for years, but there was no forcing function to demand usage. The impact spreads across many different types of technology, and every company. Even companies that were not working virtually before are taking swift steps to be virtual now. Brick and mortar sellers need to move online, pehaps leveraging AR to give an 'in person' feel. Banks and insurance companies need to securely work from home, and engage customers virtually. Electronic signatures just become 'the way things are done'. Even restaurants are shifting to a delivery model to keep business alive. There is huge opportunity to help businesses succeed in the new more virtual economy.

4. This will be the 'new normal'

• Things are not going to 'return to normal' after this pandemic is over. Those companies who survived because they became more virtual and efficient will continue to operate that way. Smart companies are re-spinning their strategies to be a solution in this new world. Deployments of these new virtual solutions for industries will not be ripped out in favor of the old way just because the pandemic is over, they will stay. This will have an impact on everything - seating spacing in restaurants, mass transit, and population density in big cities. Many more people will realize they can live in one part of the world and work in another.

5. Health Systems expansion/scaling

• Of course the rapid spread, and poor readiness for a pandemic will have us re-building our healthcare infrastructure for years to come. Investments in testing and screening will expand, new drug development will have fast-track programs, and technologies like bio-markers and AI will shorten time to market. Gone are the days of monolithic old-structure medicine. Infrastructure will be designed to 'scale up' to meet pandemics, and social programs will allow communities to react quickly and in-concert to new challenges. 

These are all opportunities for early stage technology companies, innovators, and new business models. These should be seen as not just 'taking advantage of a bad situation', but rather helping our communities, businesses, and populations thrive in a new reality. A way to rebuild for the future.

Where do you see opportunity to build new innovations that help the world?