Small Business Labs

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Telehealth for Pets

Small Business Labs

Forerunner's Pet health is going the way of human health; our investment in Dutch covers the reasons the VC firm has invested in the pet telehealth startup Dutch. The main reason is fairly obvious. The pandemic accelerated the already growing trend towards pet ownership.   According to the ASPCA, 23 million American households acquired a dog or cat during the pandemic.    And as the article points out, the increases in pet ownership came with increases in the demand f

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The Number of Digital Nomads Surged Again in 2021

Small Business Labs

The pandemic-driven seismic shift to remote led to continued strong growth in the number of American digital nomads in 2021. The MBO Partners 2021 State of Independence research study found that 15.5 million American workers currently describe themselves as digital nomads, increasing 42% from 2020 and 112% from the pre-pandemic year 2019 (click on the study chart below to enlarge).  The main reason for the growth is that traditional job holders have been unleashed from their offices and ma

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The Independent Worker Surge

Small Business Labs

After falling by 7% in 2020 due to the pandemic, the number of independent workers (freelancers, independent contractors, gig workers, etc.) rose to 51.1 million in 2021, an unprecedented 34% increase. This is the key finding from MBO Partners 2021 State of Independence research study. This is the 11th year this study has been conducted. As the study chart below shows (click to enlarge), the number of full-time independent workers increased by 25%.

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The Metaverse is Coming

Small Business Labs

The metaverse has been getting a lot of media attention recently, mainly because Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook plans to shift from being a social media company to a metaverse company. So what is the metaverse? There is no standard, widely accepted definition. The Wall Street Journal, in its article Facebook, Roblox See the 'Metaverse' as Key to the Internet's Next Phase , describes it as: "The metaverse concept, rooted in science-fiction novels such as "Snow Crash&#

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New Pet Industry Buzzwords - Petrenthood and Petriarchy

Small Business Labs

Regular readers know we like both new buzzwords and pet trends here at Small Business Labs. So it's no surprise we enjoyed Wunderman Thompson's article On-Demand Pet Care , which is a pet trends article (it covers new on-demand pet services) and has two buzzwords that are new to us - petrenthood and petriarcy. Even better, they are in the same paragraph in the article.  Key quote: Rover CEO Aaron Easterly explains that the company’s growth—as well as the growth of the sector—has be

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Who are "Geriatric Millennials"

Small Business Labs

Over the past week, there's been a flurry of articles and social media posts on "geriatric millennials" This term refers to the oldest millennials, those born between 1980 and 1985.   One of the more popular articles is Today's Are you a 'geriatric millennial'? The new term defining a micro-generation.  Key quote: It's always been a bit confusing to figure out when Generation X ends and the millennial generation begins — and now a new cohort has emer

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We're Nearing Peak Fossil Fuel Demand

Small Business Labs

McKinsey's Global Energy Perspective 2021 suggests the global demand for fossil fuels will peak in 2027 and steadily fall afterwards.   As McKinsey's report chart below shows (click to enlarge), global coal demand peaked in 2014 and they are projecting oil demand to peak in 2029, and natural gas demand peaking in 2037. Other forecasts are even more aggressive.  A recent report by the International Energy Agency suggests oil supply and gasoline demand may have already pe

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