Exploding Topics: TimescaleDB, Backyard Offices, and Two More Growing Trends

Hey fellow IHers,

Here are some rapidly trending search topics (with insights + analysis) to take advantage of.

1. Timescale

TimescaleDB is an open source database for time-series data. With optimizations specifically geared for time-sequenced data, it has the potential to achieve 10-100x faster query speeds.

Timescale launched in 2017. At that time, there were already several established time-series databases available, like InfluxData’s InfluxDB.

TimescaleDB stood out largely because it’s built on the massively popular Postgres SQL database system. According to StackOverflow's developers survey, Postgres was the 2nd most popular database in 2020. Which makes Timescale accessible to the thousands of developers already familiar with SQL. And with 543,710 active TimescaleDB databases, this strategy seems to be working.

What’s next:

Timescale is part of the “by developers for developers software” meta trend. With 24M developers worldwide, there’s growing demand for software aimed at developers like WakaTime, Istio, Jupyter and tmux.

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2. Backyard Office

A backyard office is outdoor space adapted into an area suited to working from home.

The backyard office trend started pre-pandemic. But interest in making or purchasing prefabricated backyard offices exploded once millions started working from home for the first time.

(In fact, one LA-based manufacturer reports that sales for their prefab backyard offices have increased by 250% since mid-April).

Depending on features (like plumbing), a typical prefab backyard office costs anywhere between $10k-$30k.

What’s next:

Backyard offices are part of the WFH Equipment meta trend. 4 out of 10 Americans now work from home, according to Stanford University. Which has led to booming interest in office-grade equipment that can be used at home. Other examples of this trend include blue light glasses, ergonomic chairs, laptop stands and noise-cancelling headphones.

3. Vital Proteins

Vital Proteins is a supplement company known for its line of collagen products.

The company had gone from zero to $150M in gross annual revenue in its first 5 years. And sales increased by 50% during the pandemic. Putting them on track to generate approximately $250M this year.

This exponential growth is likely why Nestlé Health Science acquired a majority stake in Vital Proteins in June. Financial terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. However, the company was valued at approximately $1B around the time of the sale.

What’s Next:

Vital Proteins is part of the Collagen Explosion metatrend. The collagen industry is currently worth $4B. And Grand View Research expects the space to grow to $6.5B by 2025. Other examples of this trend include marine collagen, vegan collagen, and collagen hand cream.

4. Beanstox

Beanstox is a robo advisor founded by Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary. In other words: Beanstox automates investing tasks, like asset allocation and portfolio management.

O’Leary’s mobile app launched on StartEngine, a crowdfunding site that provides equity to backers. And it raised $1.05M on a $15M valuation.

Beanstox is monetized via a $5 monthly fee as well as a 0.25% management fee for accounts with assets over $25k.

What’s Next:

According to InvestorPlace, total assets under management for robo-advisors may reach $16 trillion by 2025. And the number of people that manage their money with a robo advisor is expected to reach 40 million during that same timeframe. Besides Beanstox, growing robo advisor companies include Betterment, Wealthsimple, Sofi, and Ellevest.