Mary Meeker 2014 Internet Trends Thoughts

Tried to post this in a discussion online, but the comments widget bombed out. I figured I'd post it here instead, since sadly it's a bit of a ghost town.

KPCB Internet trends 2014 from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Mary Meeker just released her annual internet trends report. As a huge nerd I look forward to this every year. In this year's report she predicts that one of the next areas ripe for disruption is Education. As someone married to a teacher, and a parent. I am excited by this.

What exactly might that disruption look like?

While a completely vague prediction. It will be access to information. The overriding driver of all the major internet driven disruption of the past 30 years has been the democratization of access to information (and resources).

From Google giving everyone the worlds knowledge at the click of a mouse to Amazon EC3 offering every entrepreneur with an idea access to enterprise class infrastructure also at the click of a mouse.

"Good" education. That is access to the best teachers and best techniques was once the domain of the privileged. A networked world, combined with easy distribution and free-er access to information "evens the playing field" so to speak. In theory a kid in rural Africa "could" get the same quality of eduction as a kid in suburban Connecticut.

If that happens an interesting side effect could be disruption to the network value of higher eduction. The most valuable thing about getting a Harvard MBA is knowing all the other people who got a Harvard MBA along with you. With an even playing field, along with a theoretically open communication network in education, that could change. Disruption to education is arguable THE THING that can change the world THE MOST.

Sorry for the ramble.

Steve Jobs, and Kurt Cobain changed my life...

The world changed on January 11, 1992.  On that day, the album Nevermind by Nirvana replaced Michael Jackson’s Dangerous as the number 1 album on the Billboard album chart.

Symbolically this was the end of the era of manufactured pop music, which MJ came to represent.  A new age of real music began, some even called it the coming of age for American punk.  Kids started buying guitars again, and a new generation fell in love with the glory of punk rock.  I was one of them. 

Hit songs were once again written in garages and basements, rather than being engineered in clinical Hollywood hit factories.  Thanks Kurt…

That’s the same context in which I see the legacy Steve Jobs leaves behind.  He was the greatest storyteller of his generation.  He also happened to be businessman.  His success also in many way marks the emergence of a new era; perhaps a new era of business.

Before Apple became the most valuable company in the world, the model of success that everyone agreed on was different. 

Sam Walton turned a local variety store in to the world’s biggest retailer by taking a clinical view of his supply chain, and with laser focus squeezing out as much efficiency as he could find.  The relationships people used to have with their local store owner were forgotten, but it worked.  And it worked very, very well. 

Jack Welch took a scalpel to the cost structure at GE and turned around one of the world’s oldest companies, by making them profitable again.  Sadly this came at the price of massive layoffs, and a huge hit to the corporate culture at GE.  Employees were just cogs in an assembly line, and a job was never guaranteed.

Steve took a different approach.  He believed that you could think differently.  His focus wasn’t on a spreadsheet, it was on his customers.  He created a passion at Apple for elegant design, and a perfect customer experience.  From the packaging, through the retail experience, to the products themselves; the customer experience of Apple was and still remains different than every other brand.  Apple cares about its customers; that superior experience, has made them not just a computer company, but for some almost a religion.

Perhaps with his passing, this will mark an era in business where Apple isn’t the outlier, rather the model of success for others.  Take a customer focus, invest rather than cut, and innovate rather than stand still.  You might end up being the biggest company in the world.  Thanks Steve…

RIM Ramblings...

I remember when I got my first blackberry. It was one of the early colour screen versions with a scroll wheel on the side for navigation. I thought it was an amazing product. That blackberry gave me a sense of workplace mobility that up until then I had not experienced. In fact, I often referred to that device as my mobile office. Sure, I had a laptop computer, but having access to all my email in a device that fit into my pocket really gave me the feeling of being untethered from the office.

I wasn’t the only one who felt the same way. The Blackberry was a disruptive device that allowed professionals with jobs that were communication heavy unheard of flexibility. Email from the office? No problem. Email at home? Sure, but that’s not new. What about sending and receiving email from the train, or the airport, or even the bathroom? You mean I can do that? Wow!

What happened?

The definition of the office itself changed. Today, the tools that people use for productivity and the ways that they communicate with each other have changed. In the early days of the Blackberry, access to email was the only piece of the working experience customers needed, on the go, to be productive. After all this is what untethered them from their desks.

The tools people use in the office today, and how they communicate has changed. As the 24h workday replaces the 8h shift of the past, the line between home and office continues to blur. Email and the ubiquitous phone are still important. More and more, social has become a critical channel to collaborate and communicate. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and use of media sharing services such as Youtube and Instragram are the new ways people share thoughts and ideas. Workers today need access to other things as well. The World Wide Web is a necessity for both research and leisure. People need access to cloud based storage services like Dropbox to be able to access, author and edit files as well. Plus with all of the newfound stress of a 24h workday a little leisure can’t hurt either. Angry Birds anyone?

Much like how the American car companies were caught off guard with a rapidly changing car market from rising gas prices, RIM seems to have been caught off guard by the changing nature of the office it helped to change. RIM today finds itself trying to sell efficient messaging devices in a world where work is defined by so much more. Blackberries are essentially technology SUVs caught up in a world demanding the fuel efficiency and innovation of a hybrid engine.

What’s the lesson here?

Maintaining a pulse on your market around you and the customers you have and hope to get is critical. Even if it is a market you almost single handedly created, market needs can change quickly, after all, your own success is a testament to that.

As a proud Canadian, I believe RIM still can emerge from this a bigger better company. The kids today might just be changing what the office of tomorrow looks like again. The only problem is they may not have the patience to wait for you to catch up to them…

10 Apps to Watch in 2011

10 Apps to Watch in 2011