'New businesses will be born' - 5 top Silicon Valley dealmakers told us about the biggest trends in the internet business

For many investment bankers, Silicon Valley - not New York City - is the place to be.

Some of the most exciting deals of the year are coming out of the tech world, like Microsoft's megadeal for LinkedIn and Snapchat's highly-anticipated initial public offering.

Business Insider spoke with five top West Coast-based internet bankers about where to expect more innovation - and more deal activity - in the coming months and into next year.

They told us that after a lull in initial public offering, or IPO, activity in 2016, it looks like activity will pick up in 2017. And there's a strong case to be made for mergers-and-acquisitions, or M&A activity, taking off too.

In the words of one of the five, Barclays' Kirk Kaludis, "The sheer number of clients here is pretty awe-inspiring; you just see a lot of new innovation coming out of the startup community."