If investors could ask for anything, regardless of possibility, I imagine the No. 1 request would be for a crystal ball.

Who wouldn’t want to predict the future of stocks and the market?

If you’d had that luxury 20 or 30 years ago, you’d likely already be rich from your early investments in Amazon, Tesla, and Facebook.

But what if you don’t need a crystal ball to predict the future?

Because, the truth is, you don’t.

Rather, savvy investors know where to look to “read the tea leaves” on where the world of business – and particularly technology – is going.

It’s not enough to be reactionary. You must proactively identify these opportunities to be able to truly capitalize on them.

Luckily, these indicators sit right underneath your nose…

I’m talking about… startups!

That’s because startups are the future.

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be one of those “Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft all started out as small operations in garages” type of stories.

But those giants are integral to my message today.

Thanks to their monumental success, they’re helping startups and angel investors find life-changing success as well.

We all had our antennas up when Facebook announced it was changing its name to Meta to highlight its shift toward the virtual reality world it claimed was going to be the future.

However, you didn’t need to wait until 2020 to know this shift was coming. The company’s acquisition of Oculus was the most obvious sign. But another was the fact that Facebook also acquired another six additional companies in the VR space between 2015 and 2016.

And Facebook wasn’t the only one.

Tech giants like Amazon, Google, Apple, and Microsoft routinely gobble up small startups that they identify as value-adds to their company’s future bottom line.

Whether they’re looking to secure valuable IP, talented minds, healthy consumer bases, or all of the above, these are forward-looking decisions that are often quite revealing.

For example, between 2012 and 2020, Amazon acquired 13 startups that specialized in cloud computing technology. Now, among the 10,000 most-frequented websites on the internet, more than half are hosted on Amazon’s servers. Meanwhile, the cloud accounts for 59% of the e-commerce giant’s operating income.

In April 2010, Apple acquired technology the Defense Department was developing. This software – known as Siri (heard of her?) – became its omnipresent voice assistant.

But it didn’t stop there. It continued to place an increased focus on startups working in the artificial intelligence space. Between 2013 and 2020, Apple acquired 14 different companies working with AI.

All of those acquisitions meant investors didn’t need a crystal ball to show them the forthcoming revolution.

And it’s still not done.

Just this week, Apple announced the acquisition of UK-based fintech startup Credit Kudos, signaling a desire from the company to further bolster its Apple Pay platform and introduce an installment-based payment option to rival Klarna, Afterpay, and PayPal’s similar offerings.

I’m sharing this with you today for two reasons, really.

The first is to illustrate that investors don’t need a crystal ball to find those life-changing investments.

The second is to demonstrate the power and vitality of angel investing.

IPOs and acquisitions are what every startup and its investors work towards. And with the amount of money being thrown around by multinational corporations to keep their strong footing and stay relevant to a constantly changing consumer, there doesn’t figure to be a slowdown in snapping up startups any time soon.

But, to find those companies in the giants’ acquisition cross hairs, you need quality deal flow.

And with the Angels & Entrepreneurs Network, that’s exactly what you get. Thanks to our impeccable deal flow, we’re able to tell you all about two new startups a month that are seeking investment through crowdfunding.

I’m talking companies vetted by some of the most successful angel investors in the world.

So do yourself a favor and get something better than a crystal ball now.

The Research Team