Picking out the future's biggest business winners in a crowded startup space isn't easy, but Sequoia Capital has been able to spot tech darlings such as Airbnb, Stripe, Instacart, and Dropbox. Bryan Schreier, Partner at Sequoia, was with us to give us the hottest trends in VC.
Schreier identified the common trait that these best-of-breed companies embody. He said these companies are going after "greenfield market opportunities" that tend to be new or ripe for disruption.
The venture capitalist is excited about the potential of virtual reality. He is also taking a look at a lot of cryptocurrency opportunities. Although still in the early days, Schreier said cryptocurrency technology reminds him of the beginning stages of the internet. Scheier says that he sees real estate as one of the industries ready to be disrupted by blockchain.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
