I’m obsessed with the future. Recognition and projection of future opportunities consume a vast amount of my waking time. The process I take is meticulous: rigorously understanding current technologies and the implications those developments will afford to the birth of new industries.
But I often find value in understanding the past, too. Historical precedent is often a good indicator of what will come after: everything old is new again, the answers lie in using the old to interpret the new. The true voyage of discovery is not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes.
History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.
That’s how I analyze what I’m looking at: I understand by distilling a complicated idea into a metaphor for the past.
Netflix is like TV but when you want to watch it.
Twitter is like blogging but only 140 characters.
Instagram is like your camera but with filters.
Whatsapp is like SMS but free.
Uber is like other taxi companies but with an app.
Airbnb is like a hotel but from other people.
What this analysis uncovers is a reinterpretation of existing models in new, innovative ways. There is nothing breath-taking about any of them on their own. In retrospect, they all seem obvious — but that’s their beauty. We feel like anyone could have…
