The Entrepreneurship Paradigm Shift

There have been 3 major paradigm shifts in the world of entrepreneurship and startups over the past 30 years. The the stages are listed below a consequently occur about every 10 years

• 2000’s - The Rise of Funding

• 2010’s - The Rise of Innovation

• 2020’s - The Rise of Solopreneurs

The Rise of Startup Funding 💰

In the early 2000’s personal computing was on its way towards mass adoption and the internet was starting to infiltrate into homes across America. For the first time we had instant access to information across the globe.

This lead to companies digitizing their businesses. Software grew in popularity and with the internet exploding in popularity we saw companies grow faster than ever.This period birthed companies like Google, Netflix and MySpace.

Everyone wanted in on the action and Venture Capital (VC) funding took off, companies started going public via IPOs to get everyone paid but as we know this era did not last too long.

This period of time had large flows of cash but a shortage of valuable ideas and capable entrepreneurs.

• Build on Personal Computing

• Medium Innovation

• Tons of Investors

The Rise of Innovative Tech 📱

By 2010 the iPhone had changed the computing game. We know had a device that could access the internet in the palm of our hands. The biggest innovation the iPhone brought us was the App Store. This made it easy for folks to access software. One place to access games, applications, and other software.

Just like the growth of the internet we saw an explosion of apps hit the market. While apps were being funded right and left investors were still cautious about how money was deployed. Less apps got funded but the ones that did often got huge valuations.

This era brought us Facebook, AirBnB, Uber, and Tinder. These apps changed the way society functioned. Growing our parents warned us about getting in a car with a stranger yet alone sleeping at their house.

This era was highly innovative and had a big impact on our daily lives. But it wasn’t without its pitfalls. High expectations and massive valuations led to the collapse of many start ups. Most VCs were making money for their investors through outsized returns on a small number of investments. If you didn’t invest in one of these businesses early enough your investments would have gone to $0.

• Built on the Internet

• High Innovation

• Tons of Entrepreneurs

The Rise of the Solopreneur 👨‍🦱

2020 kicked off some interesting times. With all of the chaos the world quickly adopted to the remote lifestyle. Businesses were being conducted over Zoom. This lead to location freedom for some lucky folks who got to travel around the US while keeping their existing jobs. But many lost their jobs and few companies were hiring. This mean people had to find creative ways to make money.

During this time we saw exponential growth of people marketing themselves and selling products on social media platforms to earn a means of income. These one person businesses are often referred to as Solo-Entrepreneurship.

• Built on Software Platforms

• Low Innovation

• Tons of Creators

The Future 🔮

We will see more companies focused on earning $1 to $5M in profit rather than chasing $1B valuations. These companies will be much small in scale but also much more efficient with nearly immediately returns on investment.