Category Archives: Business

Innovators Under 35 2020

2020 | MIT Technology Review

In chaotic times it can be reassuring to see so many people working toward a better world. That’s true for medical professionals fighting a pandemic and for ordinary citizens fighting for social justice. And it’s true for those among us striving to employ technology to address those problems and many others.

The 35 young innovators in these pages aren’t all working to fight a pandemic, though some are: see Omar Abudayyeh and Andreas Puschnik. And they’re not all looking to remedy social injustices though some are: see Inioluwa Deborah Raji and Mohamed Dhaouafi.

But even those who aren’t tackling those specific problems are seeking ways to use technology to help people. They’re trying to solve our climate crisis, find a cure for Parkinson’s, or make drinking water available to those who are desperate for it.

We’ve been presenting our list of innovators under 35 for the past 20 years. We do it to highlight the things young innovators are working on, to show at least some of the possible directions that technology will take in the coming decade.

This contest generates more than 500 nominations each year. The editors then face the task of picking 100 semifinalists to put in front of our 25 judges, who have expertise in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, software, energy, materials, and so on. With the invaluable help of these rankings, the editors pick the final list of 35.


— Read on www.technologyreview.com/innovators-under-35/2020/

Pandemic Rings Death Knell For Paper Cash

As late as April 2019, Origin, an independent research firm, found that 75% of consumers still carried cash.

Restaurants and retailers all over the country have stopped accepting cash. And you can blame COVID-19 for this rapid shift away from paper to plastic.

Techcrunch reported that Google is experimenting with a debit card. Ultimately, it could make cash obsolete for more than a billion Android phone users worldwide.

— Read on www.forbes.com/sites/jonmarkman/2020/05/24/pandemic-rings-death-knell-for-paper-cash/

How to Build a Brand Story That Buyers Emotionally Connect With

How to Build a Brand Story That Buyers Emotionally Connect With
— Read on www.entrepreneur.com/amphtml/351408

The Gospel According to Peter Thiel

Michael Gibson still remembers his first day working for Peter Thiel. Like many of Thiel’s hires, he’d met the contrarian investor through several of the PayPal founder’s variously eccentric political ventures. A onetime self-described “unemployed writer in L.A.,” who’d left a doctoral program in philosophy at Oxford, Gibson had met Thiel through his work at the Seasteading Institute, a Thiel-funded attempt to create a libertarian “floating city” in international waters. Then Thiel asked him to help teach a class at Stanford Law School on philosophy, technology, and politics. And then Thiel asked him to work for his hedge fund. Gibson had no intention of working in finance, or any experience in doing so, but he and Thiel had, he felt, “gelled philosophically,”
— Read on www.city-journal.org/peter-thiel

Solving online events — Benedict Evans

Events are a bundle of content, networking and meetings, and aggregate
people in one place at one time. When you try to take this online, half of
it breaks and most of it makes no sense bundled together. We need new tools
and new ways to think about networks, not ‘virtual conferences’.
— Read on www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2020/6/4/solving-online-events

Adapt Your Marketing Strategy for COVID-19

From Gartner:

In a crisis situation subject to rapid change, CMOs need a proactive plan to adjust and adapt how they lead their teams, speak to their customers, and manage their brands.

Customers may never know how a company’s finance or HR department responds to a major unpredicted event, but marketing sits center stage, its moves reflected in every ad campaign, message and channel. You set the tone for how customers perceive the brand during a difficult time.

Taking the right actions and finding the right message can be challenging, especially in a fast-changing situation. All companies should operate with integrity and trust even as they come under pressure from a swiftly evolving situation. Those with a product or service well-suited for difficult times must, meanwhile, tread lightly, lest customers think they’re exploiting tragedy. 
“Long before the coronavirus emerged, consumer trust in both government and large brands had eroded.”
“Among marketing’s greatest challenges is foreseeing how customer wants, needs, expectations and purchasing decisions will evolve,” says Augie Ray, VP Analyst, Gartner. “Customers themselves won’t know until COVID-19 infections, fears and restrictions occur in their workplaces, locales and lives.”

Marketers shouldn’t wait for problems to develop or the market to point in a clear direction before making plans and taking action. Instead, follow a four-step action plan to define scenarios, monitor customers and plan for marketing changes.
— Read on www.gartner.com/en/marketing/insights/articles/adapt-the-marketing-strategy-for-covid-19

Contact Tracing Explained

The most complete article @Forbes I’ve seen on #ContactTracing. Balanced, includes history, technology, future. Great job @JoeHarpaz @ModMed!

Apple i OS 13.5 Is Ready For Covid-19 Contact Tracing —Are You?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joeharpaz/2020/05/21/apple-ios-135-is-ready-for-covid-19-contact-tracing/