How can a value investor buy into technological innovation?

Look for companies exploiting new technologies

In a world where Google is a verb and Amazon web services has nothing to do with spiders in the rainforest, it is easy to understand why some of the biggest and most highly priced companies in the world are technology firms.

However, as the TMT (Technology Media and Technology) bubble of the late 1990s showed, investing in technology does not always end successfully.  How can a value investor - someone who likes to invest in a business based on the current (rather than future) value of its assets, profits or cash flow - make money out of this technological revolution?  It may seem an impossible task, especially if you look at the valuation of Snap Inc, the owner of Snapchat, as an example. This loss-making company recently floated in the USA and now has a value of $24bn, roughly 59 times its last year's r...