There are thousands of articles on the internet comparing the wealth volatility of the two richest men on the planet: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Musk gets most of his wealth from Tesla and Bezos from Amazon. Both are visionaries and dare to mould the future with technology. Elon Musk talked about digital payment and electric vehicles (EVs) in the late 90s and made it a reality in 20 years. In doing so, he made his investors a millionaire and himself a billionaire. His next big project is SpaceX.
SpaceX
In his next visionary venture, SpaceX, Musk is looking to send cargo and eventually passengers in a fully reusable launch vehicle. He aims to revolutionize space travel. He is also creating Starlink, which links thousands of satellites to create a global interconnected internet network. It will enable consumers to access the internet anywhere on the planet.
All this looks like Star Wars coming to reality, and it could be in the next 20-30 years. Just like Musk made EVs and digital payments a reality, space travel could become a reality. Japanese billionaire (owner of an online clothing retailer) Yusaku Maezawa has already purchased his SpaceX ticket. If you want to buy your ticket for space travel, you’d better start saving now, as that will not be cheap.
How to afford a SpaceX ticket
There is money in e-commerce. The CEO of the largest e-commerce company Amazon is the richest person. But investing in Amazon, when it has already achieved market leadership, will limit your upside. To travel to space, you need to invest in the future.
Your closest bet to the next Amazon is Shopify (TSX: SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP), the second-largest e-commerce company in North America. Even Bezos has admitted this Canadian company as a worthy competitor. The first phase of growth made Shopify the preferred e-commerce platform in North America after Amazon. This is reflected in its revenue and stock price.
Shopify stock started trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in May 2015. In six years, the stock surged from $34 to as high as $1,900. If you invested $10,000 in the Shopify initial public offering (IPO), you’ve already earned half-a-million dollars.
Where to earn the next million dollars
Many investors believe that Shopify has lived its rally, and now its growth will stagnate. I agree that 2021 will be comparatively slow for this raging bull, but Shopify has the potential to ride many more races.
The next phase of Shopify’s growth is global expansion and the Shopify Fulfillment network. The company would probably poach retailers who are unhappy with Amazon’s misuse of data. Many retailers are leaving Amazon, because it is making cheaper substitutes of the highest-selling products on its marketplace. Small- and mid-sized retailers were unable to compete with Amazon prices and closed down. Shopify is the preferred e-commerce platform of choice for such retailers. If Shopify can maintain this status, it is only a matter of time that the stock becomes the next millionaire maker.
The pandemic has already removed the biggest roadblock for Shopify, which is the adoption of technology among the grocers and mom-and-pop stores. Grocery is volume-based retail. A higher share of groceries will reduce the seasonality.
Final thoughts
Shopify’s potential to scale is crazy. The world is moving to the next phase of technology, and Shopify is a part of this phase. If teleportation becomes a possibility, Shopify and Amazon would likely be at the core of it. Shopify stock could grow strong double digits in the coming 10 years. By the time SpaceX opens space travel to the general public, your Shopify stock might convert your $10,000 to $1 million or more.
