The 5 revolutions that changed the business world over the last 15 years. Part 1.
I moved to the USA in the summer of 2010. Since then, the world has changed. Gradually and irrevocably. Business has changed and in so doing, changed our customs, our way of life. We have witnessed 5 revolutions in the last 15 years that constitute a shift of paradigm in the way we do things.
1 — The Amazon revolution
Remember a time where you could order things from a catalog? Paper advertising is gone. Mostly. It helps the US Post Office survive for now. Not for long, I think. A tidal shift has happened. From the brilliant idea (in retrospect) of selling used books online, to drastically upgrading shipping and deliveries, Amazon has changed e-commerce, book publishing, movie distribution and re-invented the concept of affiliate marketing. Not just in the USA, but worldwide. It is in the process of changing the way we obtain prescription drugs, and soon how we access healthcare professionals and services. Innovation, innovation, innovation. E-commerce is here to stay. Access to Amazon (Alibaba or Temu for China) is changing the world. What Jeff Bezos has built is not just an empire, he has revolutionized the world of logistics. Amazon has actually set up a completely new infrastructure, digitalized business, established warehouses everywhere, built up an airline and managed to replace the US Postal Service to bring us packages over the last mile. We now can order almost anything overnight, and an army of delivery trucks are roaming through our cities and rural areas to bring these things to our doorstep. Like we say in my home, it is Christmas almost every day.
2 — The asset monetization revolution: AirBnB, Uber, Lyft, Ubereats, Instacart etc.
Technology brought people closer. Two simple ideas were turned upside down. They became major business offerings in the domains of housing and transportation.
To use a spare bedroom with an air mattress so that your friends could crash for a night seemed a limited concept. How do you scale that up to complete strangers? AirBnB connected offer and demand, and took care, as a third party, of the payments. Sometimes the residence is empty, sometimes you share a space with your hosts. It changed the economics of renting or owning a home. Your house has become an asset, not just a source of utilities, tax bills and mortgage bills. The key to their success: reviews. Both sides get to evaluate each other, building a level of honesty and integrity in the system.
To use your car to give a lift to the airport and help your neighbor, that seemed to be an every-once-in-a-while occurrence. Helping the old lady next door to go get her groceries too. Uber and Lyft combined the technologies of GPS location, real-time mapping, credit card access, instant payment, with an affordable pricing algorithm to change transportation forever. The key to their success is not technology per se though: it is trust. That trust is built on picture recognition, real time tracking, ratings, price accuracy. For the driver, the ability to monetize his car, even if it is not brand new, changes the concept of ownership. For the person who does not own or does not want to own a car, flexibility, mobility, à la carte transportation budget, access to rides in zones that are otherwise not serviced by public transportation. All that and affordable pricing compared to the soon-to-be defunct, smelly, price-gouging, unpredictable, fuel-hogs, yellow-type taxis. Food delivery services saved the restaurant industry in the US during the COVID pandemic. It is now advertised during the Super Bowl commercial extravaganza with the help of by the biggest celebrities.
3 — The Content Creation revolution: Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Coursera, Upwork, Medium, Zoom and more.
The Iphone revolution created millions of filmmakers and photographers. Small businesses, independent contractors, and artists can now showcase their work. Our constant thirst for inspiration can never be satisfied by our Instagram and Facebook streams or the free inexhaustible library of videos on Youtube. Not enough hours in the day. But we can try. It has changed the way we view the world, though other people’s eyes. The business world has been transformed too. Advertising will never be the same.
This revolution is especially true for artists. Content creators can now find a way to be heard directly, online. One can write books and upload them on Kindle, create music and make it available on Spotify, write articles on Medium or Substack and generate an income.
Education, especially free education, is now available for anyone with a computer, with websites like Coursera or Khan Academy. Coaching and teaching has gone on line through millions of webinars thanks to Zoom.
Freelancers can now offer their services across oceans. Profiles, résumés, and introduction videos can be found on Upwork and LinkedIn. Newsletters and self-promotion is now accessible from the masses for the masses.
There is a platform and a a soap box for every job seeker, digital nomad, blogger, aficionado, advocate and hobbyist in the world. This new world of content creation and media platforms has allowed artists, creators, writers and entrepreneurs to find their voice.
The digital revolution has empowered people to move out of cities and find refuge in rural areas and other countries. It has turned the office building and commercial real estate business upside down. Remote working has changed the way we live and work. Life work balance is at the forefront of this revolution.
If one looks at the seismic movement created by the explosion of the internet and the way our world is turning digital, there is a common thread to all of it. Bringing the world closer. Connecting people. And that is a good thing.
