The last 100 years saw the migration of millions of people into urban centres and then some of those people moved out to suburbs. As the technology in agriculture improved, the economics of extensive land ownership made less sense every incrimental season. However, the standard of living improved incrementally generally and unlike in 1905, we are now able to do things like take a warm shower on a daily basis and get produce from another part of the globe onto our dinner plates.
Now, the natural logic of human progress pushes commercial organisations (especially in cold climates) to explore how to get quality produce to consumers more efficiently. Can it be grown locally? Florida oranges cost a lot to get over to England? Why not grow plants in a factory on your local street corner? This CBC presentation shows the future of urban agriculture and many have predicted the format, so can we expect that it will be common place in +2025? As long as there is a commercial rationale, business model/starter costs and consumer objections are addressed, expect companies like Urban Barns to grace your plate with their purple light generated produce. Probably in the next decade or two. Price & quality are going to be critical for making this more commerical than not.
This presentation is quite interesting from a variety of perspectives. Most controversial on China versus US governments, Bill Gates basically described an experimental-led model for western democracy over the existing adversarial model of western democracy….testing in business should be applied to government…kind of obvious but I don’t see the political elite talking about the future of government.
Elon Musk argues that are too many lawyers in the US. He also points out quite a few fascinating points regarding technological change. In particular, the electric car revolution is not going to happen over night. That’s because there are 15.6 million cars sold every year while there are 256 million cars on the road currently, you should not expect cars to be completely replaced in the next 20 years by definition. Meanwhile, Bill Gates one ups Musk pretty much every single time a point is made.
Is the science behind this game more of a marketing angle rather then something original. If the math is kind in the fractal pattern? The game doesn’t appear allow for the evolution of mathematical formulas….
1) Don’t let the vision behind the idea cloud the utility of the product: users will make a decision of your idea in less then 1 second so it better be really useful upfront.
2) Recognise & embrace your constaints: build a simple matrix to explain your ideas. Then Groupon had a problem where they can’t serve businesses so clone businesses popped up. This is definitely not the reality in 2015 because Groupon was a viral business model.
3) Have a growth plan: how are you going to scale? email marketing would be the best way to keep people engaged. The Point did not have the scalability needed. The best tools aren’t always cool: Mason prefered email over twitter. Invest in a sales force. Don’t get your startup A social network for dogs
4) Failure is really really important: it shapes the way you make decisions. Mason assumed that he was going to succeed with The Point. Set yourself up by having a low opinion of your abilities. If you think you are really good at something you are probably over estimating your value. Mason knew that Groupon was not going have a rosie ending…
5) Refuse to quit: The Point was a struggle for a long time. Only after coming up with Groupon so they did started them out.
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