In 2022, Contrary Research launched over 60 memos and 5 deep dives on companies across industries like data infrastructure, fintech, DevOps, AI/ML, and cybersecurity. In 2023, we're excited to dramatically broaden our coverage of private tech companies, and continue to explore the most important industries shaping the world today.
Starting out the new year, we took a look at some of the predictions top founders and VCs are talking about. What's top of mind for everyone?
AI continues to take up a lot of mindshare. For some people, it's obvious that we're just getting started. 2023 will make 2022 look like a pretty sleepy year for AI in comparison. For others, they can't help but draw parallels between the hype in AI and the bubbles of 2021 with things like web3, and the metaverse. ChatGPT continued to draw people's excitement. We dug in and thought through the cost implications for an app like ChatGPT getting to 1M+ users in their first five days.
In the world of SaaS, it's been a painful twelve months. And a lot of investors aren't expecting it to get much better this year. Tech companies will likely continue to see multiple compression in the public markets, as valuations continue to drop private companies will likely be forced to raise capital at less-than-ideal terms, and the combination of customers cutting down seat counts, and pricing pressure will make it even more difficult for software companies to execute and maintain exceptional growth.
As we look forward to the new year, we've got a lot planned. Digging in to the democratization of design and the citizen creator movement, the fate of crypto hanging in the balance, wrapping up the second half of our cybersecurity series, and a whole lot more! Looking forward to digging in with all of you.
