What Are Good Startup Ideas For 2017?
This is actually a great question. The world is getting more and more digitalized so if you have some knowledge regarding IT and computers, 2017 might be the perfect time for you. However, let´s get started on listing some answers to the headline What Are Good Startup Ideas For 2017?
1. Serverless Computing
Think of this as the natural progression of Amazon Web Services etc. Instead of renting compute resources per month, you rent per CPU cycle. The economics are stunning – 10x-100x reduction in costs. Practically speaking this makes bootstrapped freemium a practical model (not just for VC backed). I expect this to drive a mushrooming in new SaaS startups, especially where compute costs are significant. Somewhat related to this, I expect 2016 to be the year we start to see BaaS – Backend-as-a-Service take off.
Tim Hampson’s answer to What is the difference between “backend-as-a-service” and “software-as-a-service”?
2. Human Monitoring
Yes, there is an “ick!” factor, but I think it’s inevitable. It will start in specific niches such as medical staff, pilots, soldiers etc, where the gains from centralized awareness of physiological state is more important than privacy concerns. Then it spreads to the elderly, the young (who already have tagged phones etc), and finally everybody. The monitoring devices are almost there (we still lack a reliable effective way to measure blood pressure unobtrusively), and the field is still wide open for monitoring and alerting apps. This also could tie into health insurance.
Never mind IoT, this is IoP – the Internet of People.
3. Tech Banks
High street banks in the UK are viewed with as much love as taxi’s were in the US prior to Uber. As bad as their service is for consumers, it’s 10x worse for SME’s. Trying to connect your bank to your accounting system is a nightmare. I don’t think US banks are much better either. I expect to see startups move from pure payment capabilities into full stream banking. Again, like Uber, there are regulatory issues to be overcome, but the current standard of both UK and US banks is so low, I think they are ripe for disruption. Surprisingly for banks, they are lamentable with security. A modern tech approach could run rings here. Note this is nothing to do with Bitcoin, which I expect to diminish in profile, as people realise the trust issues haven’t gone away.
If you are tired of reading, this picture says it all. The photo below gives you endless of opportunities and problems to solve. All you need to do in 2017 is find solutions to them and then start your business! If you ask us What Are Good Startup Ideas For 2017? Then we´d definitely answer these.
photo credit: Anna Vital.
