Ben Parr: Some top trends
(photo by Adam Tinworth)
The Local Social Network: it’s not just location, it is about groups, about communities. It’s about meetups, or social enterprise groups
The intersection of entertainment and digital, that is Hollywood and Silicon Valley, It will take off next year. Web integrates into shows, YT has TV. Hulu copied the TV model, but Ben does not think that is the right way to go about it. It does not generate revenue for the premium content it shows. There will be more models!
The End of the Real Time Web. THere will be better ways to control and parse through the information that come through to it, so you get info in your own time
So what challenges for entrepreneurs?
The money. The Financial Crisis. There’s uncertainty, It is supposedly the end of good times, there are now leaner times.
The Talent Wars. Hiring great engineers is difficult. There’s not enough talent out there for a digital economy. There’s loads of employee transfer across the big companies, diff ones win the war at the diff times, But there’s just not enough in total. Only 34% of US high schools interested in science/tech, but only 38% of them graduate with a STEM project. People are going to great lengths, to keep and get talent, big money and perks.
There are lots of ideas out there. But how many good ones? Most ideas are stuck. We should not give the easy money, for ideas that suck. We need to focus and get people to build better businesses.
Changing the world is really, really hard. So here’s some advice for you
Don’t plant a flower, plant a sequioa. Build something that lasts. It may not be a fast growing or as pretty as a flower, but it will survive. Remember that Revenue-costs = profit, the easiest way to build a lasting service
Be adaptable. Great ideas can change, so can great entrepreneurs. YOu need to be able to take critique, understand what is attack as well
Finally, don’t build a company. Build a cause. Build something that will matter, that you can believe in and get behind. You have to believe in it, that it will change the world. That it will matter.