Predictions of the Day

Monday, 04/13/2015

Hey, it’s Ben from Staked. Every Monday to Friday afternoon, I’ll be featuring 3 of the most interesting predictions on Staked from the day (or late in the day prior) here on Medium. The goal is to highlight in brief the different sides to each prediction, along with relevant info or sources.

So, here’s the inaugural version of Predictions of the Day.

Bring on the Soylent — Chris Dixon of a16z thinks the US will eventually wise up to its fast food obsession, as it becomes far cheaper to mass-produce healthy foods and/or food substitutes. Most seem to agree with him, but will America over the coming decades? The fast food industry is still a $200B a year juggernaut.

Put on Your Helmets — MG Siegler of Google Ventures, a big sports fan, stakes that eventually we’ll be immersing ourselves in live games and highlights via Oculus or another VR system. While the response is unanimous agreement, there will certainly be challenges. What happens after a big play, when you want to high-five your buddy down the couch? Keeping the social aspect of live sports intact will be key.

Got a Streaming Startup? — Justin Kan of Y Combinator, Twitch, etc. thinks that YouTube is exposing itself by its recent product choices. Most notably they’ve announced a new ad-free subscription program for end-users, which they’re forcing publishing partners to accept, even though it may decrease earnings for some vs. a completely ad-supported model. The community is 50/50 on this one, and it’s a tough call. YouTube brings in $4B a year in revenue, so they’re certainly not going anywhere tomorrow.