Less than a month ago the Churchill Club of San Francisco held its annual Technology Trends panel. Five venture capitalists each give two predictions for the next five years that are non-obvious. The other panelists vote on it.
Rebecca Lynn of Canvas Ventures gave one that was regarded as a bit of a dud at the time. But already events are moving in a direction that may vindicate her. "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" - President Trump would bring anti-Trust action against Amazon, and wouldn't stop there.
The entire video is always worth watching but this is a particularly interesting thought, made more pressing when Amazon announced the acquisition of Whole Foods. Other grocery stocks were decimated: is even their thin margin Jeff Bezos' opportunity?
If when unicorns become decacorns and beyond they come under the glare of a new anti-trust regime, where the scale to lower prices and thereby dominate the market is no longer waved off by the Justice Department, could there be a permanent revaluation of consumer retail startups?
Holman Jenkins of the Wall Street Journal has one of the more interesting takes that plays into this theme: that this acquisition fits into a strategy of Amazon moving to obscure price commoditization, rather than accelerate it.