By god, the word “eduployment” grates on the nerves, but if it is the near future, then I need to slide sideways and find a new generation of learners to help in very specific ways. I need to retrain myself if this is true.

“As we pull ourselves out of the ditch that was 2020, there are a few major themes of the future I’m particularly excited about. Like previous years, I am sharing them as a way to connect more dots, meet more founders, and solicit input to further develop these ideas. No surprise, some of the companies I mention within these trends are in my own portfolio or related to my work. But I have challenged myself to share ideas still on the cusp of breakout rather than the obvious trends and winners.

1. “Decentralized” is spreading to unexpected places.
2. The Era of Eduployment: Identifying a trade, getting an education, and getting a job (or starting a company) become fully integrated.
3. A few seemingly quirky social apps will tune into the under 16 demographic’s distinct approach to creation as a form of self-expression and tolerance for transparency by default.
4. Talent will increasingly own their audience, with the rise of “channels of one” and community-as-a-service.
5. More and more niche functions of the enterprise will become multi-player, powered by a next generation of highly specialized, AI-bolstered, enterprise companies with consumerized product experiences.
6. Creativity tools will be deployed across the enterprise, much like productivity tools were deployed in previous decades.
7. New and disruptive interfaces will emerge that aggregate and connect the underlying services we use to live and work.
8. Another round of “the roaring 20’s” is ahead of us, where the pent-up desires from the pandemic will be unleashed in the form of fashion, travel, and culture-bending creative self-expression.”