Editor’s Note: Unbelievable technological breakthroughs—like driverless cars, humanoid robots, and exotic pharmaceutical therapies—make headlines daily. So today, we turn to a Silicon Valley insider for insight on investing in “exponential” technology…
Jeff Brown is a veteran 25-year tech executive. He’s helped build small high-tech startups, been involved in large turnarounds, and run organizations generating hundreds of millions in revenue. He’s also the editor of Exponential Tech Investor…
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J. Reeves, editor, The Palm Beach Daily: Jeff, I feel like I hear about a new technological breakthrough almost every day.
Are these discoveries accelerating?
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Jeff Brown, editor, Exponential Tech Investor: Yes. We’ve seen radical changes in technology during the last two decades. These include streaming video, cellphones, and the Internet. But these improvements are incremental.
They’re only the foundation.
In the next 10 years, advances in technology will dwarf all the progress we’ve seen since the great tech revolution that began in the late 1990s.
Everything will be different: how we work, shop, sleep, eat, travel, bank, communicate, conduct warfare, manufacture, design, distribute, create, transact, and maintain our own health.
J.R.: What’s an example of a company that’s driving today’s exponential change?
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Jeff: Apple enjoyed explosive growth—and explosive returns on its share price—during the early years of the computer revolution.
But Apple’s stock didn’t begin its exponential rise until 2007… with the introduction of the iPhone.
It’s easy to spot the company’s exponential “inflection point” when looking at its stock chart.
Today, we’re entering a new, faster stage of innovation across the tech landscape.
Progress is accelerating… and it won’t be limited to just a few dominant companies like Apple.
J.R.: How do you know progress is accelerating across the board?
Jeff: Over the last few decades, it took about 20 years for the typical Fortune 500 company to reach a $1 billion market cap.
[Market capitalization (“market cap”) is the total value of all shares in the market (share price x all outstanding shares).]
In 1998, Google reached $1 billion in market cap in eight years.
By 2004, Facebook did it in five years. By 2009, Uber did it in less than three years. In 2012, virtual reality firm Oculus did it in just over a year.
And as recently as 2014, workplace productivity company Slack pulled it off in eight months.
This trend is speeding up. And investors are reaping the benefits.
For example, Facebook shareholders who bought at the IPO are now enjoying a 144% return on their investment. And they’re the laggards. Tesla shareholders are up 1,320%. Google shareholders are up 1,479%.
J.R.: Let’s talk about some specific exponential trends you’re excited about. Can you give Daily readers an example?
Jeff: Sure. Additive manufacturing—often referred to as “3-D printing”—is one of my favorite exponential technology trends.
Traditional printers layer ink on paper to make words. But 3-D printers create multiple layers of material to make objects.
These printers vary in size, from desktop versions to models large enough to print a house. (A private company in China recently printed 10 homes in one day—at a cost of only $5,000 per home.)
Think of 3-D printing as the “next generation of manufacturing.”
With the advent of 3-D printing, local manufacturing will return. People will print products and parts in their homes. Small- and medium-sized businesses will be able to manufacture products themselves.
It could spark a small-business explosion.
In 2014, the 3-D printing industry was worth $4.1 billion. It’s grown at an annual rate of 35.2% for the last five years.
And over the next five years—as the price of printers drops—it’s expected to grow another 400%… to $21 billion.
We’re tracking about a dozen companies in this area in Exponential Tech Investor.
J.R.: Where else do you see exponential technology trends changing daily life?
Jeff: In the next 10 years, barriers will be broken… new industries will be created… and fortunes will be made. For example:
- Computing power in a single computer or smartphone will surpass human brainpower. Artificial intelligence (AI) will be everywhere.
- Millions of autonomous, self-driving vehicles will shuttle passengers back and forth on U.S. highways.
- DNA sequencing—which now costs as much as $1,000—will cost less than $10. This opens the door for personalized medicines.
- The average human life span for anyone born in the last 20 years will exceed 100 years.
- Everyone will be “plugged in.” More than 6 billion people—three-quarters of the Earth’s population—will have smartphones and access to high-speed wireless networks.
- 3-D printers will be as common in homes as laser printers are today. This will let people buy—or instantly create—thousands of products.
I’m exceptionally excited about the opportunities these trends provide us as investors.
J.R.: Incredible. Science fiction is becoming science fact… and it’s all happening so fast. Thanks for sharing this information, Jeff.
Jeff: Anytime.
Reeves’ Note: Jeff uncovered another breakthrough technology in “gene repair.” It has the potential to cure 6,000 brutal diseases—from Alzheimer’s to the Zika virus.
MIT called it “the biotech discovery of the century.” And one small company is set to tap into a massive $3.16 trillion market. Click here to learn more.