The case for 2024 optimism

I’m finally feeling a lot better today. Between the month in Croatia, COVID, and an impromptu trip to Vegas, my body was just run down and dead the last few days. I’m planning on a lot of rest and relaxation for the rest of December. If all goes well, 2024 will be a busy and fun year.

As we wrap up the second year of the startup bear market, there’s a lot of reasons for optimism for tech, particularly startups, in 2024.

Despite the rising interest rates and macroeconomic events of the last 2 years, we’ve managed to avoid that dreaded major recession that so many were predicting. We’re not out of the woods yet, but all signs point to the economy continuing to grow despite the higher cost of capital.

Many tech companies have increased guidance going into next year showing a stronger confidence of growth. That was a strong reversal compared to this time last year when many were predicting a recession.

The public markets, particularly the NASDAQ, has been strong in 2023 and there is a lot of optimism that will continue going into 2024. While it won’t be a major IPO year, we expect many tech companies to finally make their debut in 2024.

The public market and IPO momentum should bleed over into the private markets in 2024. There is a lot of dry powder that VCs and investors are sitting on right now that will hopefully make it’s way into hands of companies and individuals through primary and secondary funding rounds.

Valuations in the private markets will likely continue their downward trend, but great companies will continue to grow. With new sources of capital, they can start reinvesting into that growth and hopefully grow into their 2021 valuations.

Anything can happen of course, but I am optimistic heading into the new year. For now, it’s time to rest up.