Top 4 Business Sectors Ripe for Disruption

Len Grossman, managing partner of venture capital firm FutureBank, sat down with Lorde’s at a recent Silicon Valley tech conference and discussed a few of his firm’s forward-looking investment ideas.

Baseball

“Let’s face it, America’s past time is past its prime,” says Grossman. “While it’s a fine notion to go spend the afternoon at the ballpark with your child, and harken back to a simpler blah, blah, borrrring. When was the last time you watched an entire baseball game without falling asleep? Exactly. What if the bases were spring-loaded and could randomly eject the baserunner? A ninja course to get from second to third, a slack line over a viper pit between third and home, and an ongoing Texas cage match in left-center field. Now that sounds a helluva lot more like what Americans want when they’re paying $15 for a hot dog.”

Car Tires

These days, all the attention in the automobile market is going two places: electric & autonomous. What about where the rubber hits the road? Grossman says, “Why rubber? Why not a magnesium-silica substrate injected with nano-tech polymers, and smart sensors? In short, a tire capable of reading the road and then adjusting its shape and form to suit the conditions.” He admits the technology is decades away, and he made up most of the terms, but still…just think of it.

Toaster Ovens

While perhaps not the sexiest item on a kitchen remodeling list, or even just sitting on the counter (what appliance can upstage a blender?), the toaster oven market is heating up. Grossman says, “Picture your toaster oven with a built-in, voice-activated speaker — now picture that same appliance at the center of your smart home. Four words for you, ‘Hey Siri, avocado toast.’”

Tape & Adhesives

A few years ago, an unknown marketing genius asked the simple question, “Why does duct tape have to be gray?” It turns out the answer was, “It doesn’t.” And voila, a wave of color swept through the tape and adhesives industry, forever changing the way many of us think about duct tape. Grossman believes we’re on the brink of an even bigger paradigm shift in this sector, namely the name. “For the longest time, I thought it was duck tape. I couldn’t figure out what ducks had to do with tape, but that was just one of life’s mysteries. Then in college, a friend told me it was duct tape, and I thought, ‘What the hell is a duct?’” Grossman added, “We’re in early stages, so I’m legally bound from revealing details, but let’s just say ducks and tape have a lot more in common that you may think.”