[This post was originally published on Medium and can be found here]
No more typing, swiping or searching.
The user interface of your future tech devices and appliances will be the ones that you can’t see or touch.
Read more From Touch to Voice: Why Your Voice is the Interface of the Future
This will definitely not be the first article to reference that diversity within the technology industry is abysmal. This topic has long been widely reported on multiple industry websites, blogs and news outlets.
The current state of affairs is embarrassing and many tech companies are working hard to improve this. All that said, in many ways, I’m beginning to feel like a contrarian on this topic.
I’m actually optimistic about the future of diversity in tech, in the long-term.
Read more Why I’m Optimistic About the Improvement of Diversity in Tech
So you are building a new startup in 2016, huh? Let me guess: you are doing something in the Virtual/Augmented Reality, Machine Learning or Internet of Things space?
Odds are I have a pretty good chance of being right.
If you are remotely involved in the technology sector, the concepts of VR/AR, machine learning or IoT are probably all to common.
Read more Scripted Innovation: Are Venture Capitalists Pushing Entrepreneurs Towards ‘Trendy’ Ideas?
The people who consistently build products and services that reach massive scale are often those who are able to accurately predict what people want, often before people realize they want them.
I tend to follow the works, speeches and thoughts of these people more often than I follow traditional journalists. One person who fits this category for many in the tech community is Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, and early investor in Facebook, SpaceX and many more.
Last year, Thiel published an amazing book titled Zero to One which highlighted important themes for aspiring entrepreneurs. One of the key themes was that many of the greatest businesses derived from someone’s fundamental belief of something that opposed both popular opinion and common sense.
Read more My Five Predictions About the Future That Few People Agree With
“There is nothing permanent except change” – Heraclitus
The increasing usage of on-demand services like Uber and Postmates symbolize the diminishing of consumer patience and tolerance for waiting.
Your business expects people to wait for 30 minutes for your service to arrive?
Ha, I have better options.
Read more A Change in Consumer Habits: From On-Demand to Do-It-For-Me
Target, Anthem, JP Morgan, Sony, Home Depot and Ebay – what do they all have in common? All of these companies suffered from a significant data breach, hacking incident or major security compromise.
The biggest victim: you.
The likelihood that you’ve purchased products or used services from any of the above listed companies is relatively high, whether you’ve done so directly or indirectly through corporate partnerships.
Read more How You Can Prevent the Next Enterprise Security Breach: Invert the Model
With over 2 billion smartphones in use around the world, the growing dominance of mobile technology becomes undebatable.
This is true for consumer use-cases and business use-cases alike. People are increasingly dependent on mobile apps and technology to get things done in a personal and professional context.
For developing economies, this reliance is on an entirely different spectrum. Mobile is everything.
Read more Building Strictly for Mobile: The Choice for Startups in Developing Markets
The changing landscape of technology has caused rippling effects through countless industries, including everything from commerce to data storage.
Much of this is increasingly being led by software and cloud companies. Innovation is pushing the bounds of what used to be impossible.
As one prominent Silicon Valley investor put it, “software is eating the world.”
Read more The Five Biggest Threats to B2B Software & Cloud Companies
“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” – James Cash Penney
Building a business is tough.
What can be even more difficult is earning the attention and dollars of prospective users or customers.
Read more Why Viral Growth Is Difficult But Possible for Enterprise Startups
I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. – Will Rogers
Chances are that when you think about the word government, it is with a negative connotation.
Your less-than-stellar opinion of government may be caused by everything from Washington’s dirty politics to the long lines at your local DMV.
Read more How Three Startups Are Using Data to Renew Public Trust In Government
