Practice Area Articles
Survival and Growth in the New Digital Economy
December 13, 2020
By Paul Hastings Professional
Tomorrow's Global Business:
Survival and Growth in the New Digital Economy
Our new thought leadership series with the Financial Times, Tomorrow’s Global Business, kicked off with an exclusive forum on Survival and Growth in the New Digital Economy, held in Silicon Valley.
Senior executives from Adobe, Dropbox, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Morgan Stanley, PayPal, and other tech industry leaders joined us as featured panelists, sharing their insights on how technology is disrupting and transforming existing business models—and the top trends to follow this year.
View video highlights from our two panels below, along with a list of our panelists’ top trends to follow:
Leaders in Finance
Leaders in Corporate Innovation
Top Trends to Follow
Changing drivers of market success: With heavyweight tech stocks trading at multiples below the S&P average, current valuations in public markets appear undersold. Where do we go from here?
Blending of industry sectors: Market uncertainty has led to new business models, with the distinctions blurring between media, telecoms, and tech companies. This is creating new regulatory challenges, competitors, and opportunities.
Value in growth investing: The focus has shifted from growth at any cost to gross market value. Savvy investors are scrutinizing businesses for the right fundamentals to ensure survival when capital is scarce.
International growth challenges: Regulatory, IP, and data security issues are especially critical when expanding into developing markets, as well as when established companies acquire startups that may not have fully addressed these risks.
Software as a service (SAAS): Providers are hugely profitable, but how big is the market? Incumbents tend to underestimate how disruptive SAAS will be.
Fintech on the rise: New innovators are continually coming to market, shifting the playing field and making competition fierce. Those that handle multiple parts of the payment process hold an advantage.
Uber for everything? On-demand models are appealing, but not always cheaper or more efficient. Companies must make a compelling business case to secure funding.
To view the complete discussion, visit the FT’s Silicon Valley Forum page. Our event series will continue this summer when our focus shifts to Asia for a forum in Beijing on cross-border investment. Look for more details coming soon.