When it comes to IT investment, this industry sector is arguably one of the best sectors to look for the next big fintech or tech firm braking into the dot-com marketplace. Over the years there have been quite a few surprises with 4 in particular that many investment banks turned down either because they did not feel the idea would work or they felt it challenged their ethics.
The Doorbot
One of the most famous cases involving an idea that has made billions is the now very famous Doorbot. The idea was first pitched on Shark Tank which is a TV show where people can pitch their product and investment ideas to millionaires looking for a toy to make their shed loads of surplus cash into even bigger bundles of cash.
Today Ring, the owner of Doorbot pulled in over $200 million in investment from the likes of Goldman Sachs, Kleiner Perkins, and Richard Branson before eventually being sold to Amazon for $1 billion. This gadget is also very simple. When someone rings your doorbell, your smartphone rings, and not only can you speak to the person at your door, you can also see them on the Doorbot cam.
Why those investors did not see potential in these products is a complete mystery. Most people that watched the show lived the Doorbot idea. It’s perfect for when a delivery man turns up with your package and you are not there, it lets you see who is at your door, and your speak to the person standing on your doorstep no matter where you are, and it even comes with night vision.
It is so outrageously simple as far ideas go, but also amazingly useful which is exactly why Amazon bought the rights to the Doorbot because it also makes their delivery services more convenient when people own a Doorbot.
Mobile Live Dealer Casino Platforms
When the concept of streaming live table games manned with live dealers was first pitched to investors, everyone was on board as the idea was proven to be more than feasible.
It worked an absolute treat in the online casino industry as casino table game players that have a passion for blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and poker versus the house flocked to the new way to play casino games. However, when it came to developing mobile tech many investors felt that small smartphone screens would not be good enough for live dealer games.
As it turns out, nearly every live dealer platform out there now designs each of its table games so the webcam and betting interface are all mobile compatible.
The thing is, some of the largest investment banks turned their noses up at the online casino industry and the concept of not only live dealer gaming but also mobile gaming. Mainly because licensing in the past was unclear and the banks didn’t want to risk their money on ventures that could be shut down as they were in the USA.
Eventually, their risk assessment turned out to be very wrong indeed, and live casino platform providers such as NetEnt and Evolution Gaming – both of which are floated on stock exchanges – have turned their live dealer studios into both desktop and mobile gaming money spinners!
In countries like South Africa where land-based casinos are spread far apart from each other and only available in major cities live dealer gaming via both desktop and mobile is one of the most popular ways to play table games in the country and today there are hundreds of players playing live table games at South African casinos found here on playcasino.com.
Airbnb Vacation Rental Booking System Tech
Although a few lucky investors got in on Airbnb in the early days, most investment bankers thought that a vacation rental website would just drown in what was already saturated travel and accommodation marketplace dominated by Agoda, Booking.com, Hotels.com, and the list goes on.
One of the top investment bankers at JP Morgan said that they just didn’t see where the potential was for yet another accommodation booking platform. This was even though Airbnb’s idea had one key marketing advantage – differentiation in a market with high barriers to entry.
The idea began as Airbedandbreakfast.com with the obvious market being targeted, bed and breakfast hotels for short stay stopovers. The owners at the time struggled to find investors and actually raised $30,000 selling 800 boxes of breakfast cereal at $40 each before eventual netting another $20,000 from Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham who at the time was also not keen on the Airbnb concept.
In 2009, things really started to kickoff after shortening the name to Airbnb.com and included people’s private homes for rent. It only then did they manage to raise $7.2 million and then $112 million in the second round of funding.
However, by that time many of the major investment banks had missed their opportunity to invest in what is now a multi-billion-dollar company with the only options to invest now being to buy shares as the company already filed for an initial public offering.
What’s Next in the World of Tech?
Keep your eyes open for blockchain technology because this is the next big tech industry that is going to change the way technology works as we know it. Some of the best investment opportunities are in PLCs that are actively involved in creating blockchain-based tech like IBM and Microsoft as well as the more than 4,000 ICOs that currently have cryptocurrencies available so investors can buy into their idea.