Summary List Placement Every year, venture capitalist Semil Shah nominates a breakout tech company of the year and his track record for picking winners has been unquestionably impressive. His 2020 pick? Hopin, a virtual events startup that has become the latest beneficiary of this year's turn towards virtual work. Shah has no relationship to this company or its investors but writes, "I sure wish I did!" Shah is the founder of seed/pre-seed firm Haystack, and a venture partner at Lightspeed.