Where to invest (the money you no longer have)
: Nick Denton has some visionary advice on where to invest for Management Today:
: Outdoor advertising. I would broaden this to include any place-based advertising. Nick notes LCD and e-ink technology to change displays. Note also that there are now changable posters in movie theaters (I lost the link to that story). Add to this, importantly, new connectivity and networking: You can change the message anytime anywhere (that is, not just on billboards but also in stores and at checkouts and in store windows and in public places of any definition) based on the time of day; the crowd (hey, the flight from New York just came into LAX: push those I ‘n’ Out burgers); changes in your business (H&M and other companies change their fashions almost weekly; they could change their promotion and pricing hourly)…. I have an idea for a business in this sphere but I’ll save that.
: Escapes — new pretty places for travel.
: Old skyscrapers.
: Online media. Don’t laugh. Nick points out that the costs to create nanomedia are now nano; the audience is definitely here; advertising is growing.
: And short telcoms because VOIP is coming. Absolutely.
: I would add that storage technology of every description will grow (as it becomes cheaper), for we will be storing music and movies and pictures in our pockets and we will be storing our lives online. EMC rises again? And networking technology will be added to everything encased in plastic. Buy Linksys.
There will also be more freelancers and second-careerists, boosting schooling (of the vocational sort) and the companies that prepare you for it (Kaplan, et al).
And I’d keep my eye out for new food trends to steal market share from McDonald’s, Burger King, et al (see my fast food vlog). Wish I could tell you what companies those are; it’s not Ranch One (a good concept ruined); it’s not XandoCosi (a good concept that’s too expensive); you can’t buy Pret a Manger (which is too bad, for I think ready-made fresh sandwiches will become standard buy-it-before-boarding fare at every airport in the country).
I’d say cable’s going to do well (see Nick’s telecom point above); see also whether Time Warner Cable’s IPO goes well.
But what do I know? I own too damned much AOL.
: More place-based, dynamic advertising: in cabs.
