Small Business Labs

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Gen Z Driving the Changing Demographics of Independent Work

Small Business Labs

2021 represents a watershed year in terms of the generational makeup of the independent workforce. As the study chart below (click to enlarge) from the MBO Partners 2021 State of Independence report shows, the two youngest generations - Gen Z (born 1997-2012) and Millennials (born 1980-1996) - make up the majority of independent workers (freelancers, self-employed, gig workers, etc.). 2021 is the first year when this is the case.   A key driver of this shift has been the rapid growth

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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 Anti-Work Movement and the Surge in Self-Employment

Small Business Labs

The antiwork movement (also referred to as the post-work movement) is getting much attention these days.   This attention has been spurred by the growth of  Reddit's/antiwork forum , which has over 900,000 members - who are called "idlers" on Reddit.  According to Reddit, the forum is for: " those who want to end work, are curious about ending work, want to get the most out of a work-free life, want more information on antiwork ideas and want personal help

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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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It's Time to Upgrade U.S. Economic and Labor Statistics

Small Business Labs

Sometimes we post articles on topics few people are interested in.  This is such an article.   But you should be interested because the economic and labor data collected by government agencies no longer provide the information we need to properly understand and manage the U.S. economy. Over the past week several sources explained the problems with government data collection efforts and made suggestions on how to improve them.

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A VC's Guide to Gen Z

Small Business Labs

Digital Native is an interesting Substack newsletter from Index Ventures' Rex Woodbury.   His recent article - A Guide to Gen Z Through TikTok Trends, Emojis, & Language - nicely describes several behavioral characteristics of Gen Z.   It also covers their often changing and confusing (at least to older generations) use of emojis, language and social media.    The article breaks the behavioral descriptions into 3 categories: 1.  Authentic & U

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The Flying Car Dream Continues

Small Business Labs

The first flying car prototypes were produced over a century ago.  And yet here we are, 100+ years later and still no flying cars. But as the New York Times article What is a Flying Car points out, the long term dream of flying cars continues to get closer: That dream, most experts agree, is a long way from reality. But the idea is gathering steam.

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