The year 2021 has been a year waited for like no other in recent history, except perhaps, the year 2000 when everyone expected the computers to go bonkers. As we draw near the end of a terrible year that 2020 was, the media is awash with experts projecting what trends will rule. However, I think that we are already living through many of the changes – in other words, the last few months have brought on many of the changes, and 2021 will be a continuation of many of them.

Nevertheless, here are 5 things that I am watching out for, in no particular order of preference. None of these are earth shattering or new, but rather some of the things that interest me and are also shaping the world we live in.

1) The pandemic-induced vacuum will be filled: Individual workers are beginning to feel the lack of human connection and more than formal offices, alternate workplaces like co-working and coffee shops may disproportionately benefit from this. Regular cafes & restaurants could monetize their idle hours and offset current lower capacity via long-term membership programs (longer predictable revenues) – in lieu of place, dedicated WiFi & printer/scanner services, some F&B, and other humans to talk to. Given that vaccines will take time to reach everyone, the trend to get away from cities into workation destinations will continue, but a dead-cat bounce in international travel is likely once the vaccine penetration reaches a fair level.

2) Economy will bounce back, but with caveats: Economic activity is getting back to normal but on the back of stimulus and cost-cuts. Stimulus to revive spending may spike inflation and this could keep companies second guessing on revival of higher interest rates. Coming off a low base of 2020, percentage growths will be big, but companies will be wary of adding back costs. Laid off talent may need to continue seeking shelter in some form of entrepreneurship or the gig economy.

3) Emerging investing themes- social with hard commercials: Social relevance of investing will be as never before. There will be ideas and opportunities from experienced professionals who have been pushed into entrepreneurship. Watch out for those that efficiently organize the vast unorganized blue-collar worker & gig-economy market beyond merely listing services. Investing themes will continue in areas of livelihood, digital identities, healthcare, education, green mobility, food & healthcare logistics/cold-chain, local language information, women & youth-oriented services, social commerce, and payments tech.

4) Experiences & information funded by crowdfunding / memberships: 2020 has made people realize the value of content. Apart from entertainment there will be demand for more nuanced content – experiences, information, edutainment. Also, a lot of unemployed folk will try to find outlets on platforms like Substack, Scrollstack, Patreon, OnlyFans, etc. (depending on where their content skills lie). Deep-dive content in the form of paid newsletters and podcasts will keep riding on the momentum. Similar deep-dive experiences served remotely will also flourish like gourmet meals at home and high-end fitness coaches in your living room. Gainers will also include B2B content marketplaces that can aggregate creators for large publishers.

5) Mediatech finally becoming Mediatech: Experiences with 2020’s information glut (very often misinformation) highlighted the need to move beyond digital destination to being a content product driven by technology. The form & shape will continue to morph through and beyond 2021, but with increased momentum. Fake news will not go away, but there will be sincere tech efforts to curb it using aggregation and provenance verification via blockchain-like technology to ensure both scale & veracity. Building on the verification tech, publishers will also move towards developing a trust score with advertisers.