Hopin, a virtual events start-up (thanks to the pandemic) that raised over a billion dollars in less than a year over 7 rounds of funding and has over 30 investors and reached a valuation of $ 7.8 BN saw its share prices hammered and employees laid off as companies returned to real gatherings.
Zoom, a platform we literally lived in, also lost very significant market cap since 2020. So also did many others in the tech meltdown community.
Does that mean that in 2023, all of us will log out from the virtual world, get real and just turn up in person? That we will value personal connections over appy connections? That we will cherish those moments we have in the presence of others enough to put our devices away? That of course businesses including start ups will get real and build for the long term?
It is my wish that the much demanded “in-person”, “on ground”, “off line” interactions that we are so eagerly embracing also signals a return to several truly wonderful, uplifting, engaging human interactions for all of us, at home and at work, all through 2023!
2023, getting real, in more ways than one!