Future Trends For The Entertainment Industry

Photo Credit: http://www.intomobile.com/2012/10/24/roundup-second-wave-apps-support-iphone-5/

Within the last couple years, a major shift has taken place that has changed the future of the entertainment industry. That shift comes from trending mobile apps that have blown the roof off the market as we know it. When it comes to Internet start-up companies, their beginning path used to be set in stone, establish and maintain a major presence on the Web first, then attempt to come up with a version of your same services for mobile devices. However, this does not play out the same in today’s industry. Now companies are going backwards, Ben Lerer, a manager of the venture capital firm Lerer Ventures, said he preferred to back companies that were building services for mobile first and the Web second, because “businesses that are thinking that way are planning for the future” (Wortham, 2012).

New entrepreneurs are more than eager to hop on board the mobile trend. According to the research firm CB Insights, mobile apps and companies attracted 10% of the total investment dollars from American venture capital firms in last year’s fourth quarter, and 12% of deals were mobile-related, up from 7-8% in previous quarters.

As the masses continue to increasingly abandon their laptops and desktop computers for their smart phones and tablets, the downloads are reaching more than 800 apps per second at a rate of more than 2 billion apps per month from the App Store, more and more businesses will want to tap into this market in new ways. Brands that are looking to leverage the growing mobile audience are lining up to get their branded mobile apps so that they can develop a closer connection with their audience and ultimately generate a larger user base and more revenue (Moorjani, 2013). It is a major change from just a few years ago, underestimating just exactly how the momentum in the tech world is shifting to mobile from computers.    

Alternative Funding Sources

(Photo Credit: http://www.usersfirst.org/resources/mobilitymap/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=1550)

The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) is a national nonprofit 501(c)3 organization that empowers low and moderate-income households to build and preserve assets by advancing policies and programs that help them achieve the “American Dream.” This includes buying a home, pursuing higher education, starting a business, and saving for the future. CFED is one of the leading sources for data about household financial security and policy solutions. This company promotes programs on the ground and invests in social enterprises that create pathways to financial security and opportunity for millions of people (CFED, 2013). Some of the advantages of using alternative financing include:

•       Easier approval, as opposed to bank loans that can be advantageous in certain situations, but are not available to everyone
•       Flexible repayment terms, instead of making fixed monthly payments, the business owner may have the option of variable payments
•       Promote new business concepts, many businesses with novel ideas are available to come to the forefront of the industry and become successful

National Community Investment Fund (NCIF) is a company that invests in CDBIs that display both strong financial and social performance. To determine if an institution meets these criteria, NCIF evaluates the institution using a Development Impact analysis as well as an internal CAMELS analysis. The institution must also provide a planned exit strategy. NCIF performs a thorough analysis that examines both historical performance and future projections for these institutional characteristics. The CAMELS rating is a supervisory rating system originally developed in the United States to classify a bank’s overall condition. These are the components of a bank’s condition that are assessed:

•       (C)apital adequacy
•       (A)sset quality
•       (M)anagement capability
•       (E)arnings
•       (L)iquidity
•       (S)ensitivity

NCIF selectively provides analysis of portfolio institutions for investor clients. Using publicly available financial information and the NCIF Social Performance Metrics, NCIF constructs an analysis document that provides an examination of each portfolio institution as well as overalls summary data and comparisons to relevant peer groups (NCIF, 2013).