I have witnessed startups launch new products or launch existing products in new markets for the past 15 years. One thing I can say for sure is that success mostly depends on the Product-Market Fit. Or so we’ve been told. According to leading VC fund Andreessen Horowitz, “Product/market fit means being in a good marketContinue reading “What is Product-Zeitgeist Fit?”
So there it is! I’ve put down on paper my list of favorite resources as a futurist living in Silicon Valley. The list is non-exhaustive and evolving. Please feel free to share your own – I’d be happy to consider additions! Noticeable companies Google X, the moonshot factory (American semi-secret research and development facility andContinue reading “Top Resources for Futures Thinkers”
Every day at noon, Lenna walks down the street to have lunch. She meets with her friends Amelie (Uber freight driver) and Sam (VR game developer) at the closest AdStar food truck. They’ve checked on the maps through the AdStar app where today’s food trucks are located – at the corner, there is one IndianContinue reading “Sponsored Food Trucks & Free Food For All!”
And Our Shopping Assistants Are Responsible For This! Now that more than 100 million homes are equipped with virtual assistants replacing us in most everyday activities including buying products, we are faced with three levels of evolutions, as Jamais Cascio details in his scenario “Machines as the New Consumer Class“. Let’s dig into this futureContinue reading “Ads Are Losing Their Sense Of Humor”
“I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant: I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.” – Hypocratic Oath It has become a leitmotiv: “Pharmacy needs to transformContinue reading “The Transformation of Pharmacy”
“Remember that time is money” – Benjamin Franklin During the First Wave (agricultural societies) and still recently in some civilizations, people were not paid hourly, but usually received a fraction of their production. This resulted in a different relationship to time from ours. As Marina Gorbis details in her paper “Back to the Future: FromContinue reading “The New Timescape”
“It takes a village to support our seniors” – Proverb More and more older people will be able to live independently and comfortably at home while aging, thanks to the development of senior villages. These community-based villages offer a set of services based on volunteering, tech equipment and reciprocal support. The first named Village inContinue reading “Senior Villages to brighten the Future of Aging”
“The flush toilet, more than any single invention, has ‘civilized’ us in a way that religion and law could never accomplish.” – Thomas Lynch In the realm of the smart home business, Google is now looking at the bathroom as demonstrated by some recently filed patents by the company. In the future, toilet seats, bathContinue reading “Are we ready for Smart Toilets?”
“Man is by nature a social animal” – Aristotle, Politics. I have been a pessimist for quite a while, running countless catastrophic scenarios in my head about the end of our species in a not-so-distant future. I might have been a little too much influenced by Matrix or Terminator-like prophecies. Or maybe just by ourContinue reading “No-tech-land: Remains of the human nature”
“A robust forecast is a collective endeavor; it’s very much a product of collective intelligence.” – Marina Gorbis There is no doubt, Futures thinking can help on many levels with immense outputs: A tech company anticipating the consequences of more consumers using its new products A city government incorporating climate change and social impact inContinue reading “Futures Thinking, Family Therapy”
“In dealing with the future, it is far more important to be imaginative than to be right.” – Alvin Toffler, Future Shock. So will you believe it? I’ve turned the corner and put my job on hold as a co-founder of a cool startup (great team and fun business, but definitely a feeling of déjà-vu)Continue reading “Becoming a Futurist”
“So many choices, you end up not knowing which one you want.” — Hang the DJ, Black Mirror Did I already tell you that I’m going through a Netflix binge-watching fad? Well, I probably haven’t told you yet how I am actually going through a deeper existential crisis, as lately I have been falling asleepContinue reading “Through the Looking Glass”
“The future is dark, which on the whole, is the best thing the future can be, I think.” – Virginia Wolf, writer Once a year, my husband and I subscribe to a free 30-day Netflix trial. We love discovering the latest shows and keeping up-to-date with our favorites, as latest seasons are rarely available inContinue reading “Fit for the Future”
Silicon Humanism 