advice from the Future, Part 3
“The key to the future actually might be in the past.” Paolo Bacigalupi is a Hugo and Nebula Award–winning science-fiction author. A lot of your work focuses on the way humans will be challenged by an increasingly hostile natural environment. What are the implications for businesses?
Economies are embedded inside ecosystems. Companies dependent on tourism, for example, are affected by low rainfall—there’s less snow for skiers, and forest fires are more intense. Businesses that decide to be reality based and identify where they’re vulnerable to climate impact, that start thinking about how to buffer against it, are going to be able to take advantage of shortages. When the water runs out, not everyone is in the same pickle. Are there places today that give us an indication of what the future might look like?
The key to the future actually might be in the past. Everything we’re doing now relies on massively integrated global supply chains that depend on cheap oil and other things. Does a future with higher-priced gas look more like the past? Hunt for places around the world where price matters more to see how price might affect behaviour. Do books have a future?
The marketplace tells us that good, visceral storytelling has a place. But there are lots of questions about the format that stories take. Maybe storytelling belongs in audio—a short story is the length of a commute. That can be a sacred spot where you have the ear of the reader without having to compete with other media like games or TV.
4 4 | INC. | january 2013
Game Changer
4.Customers Will Get in Your Face Used to be you had to please your customers, your investors, and the press. What happens when your customers are your investors and your press? including videos and photos from its In today’s networked, hyperinformed production facility. And Pebble’s founder, economy, customers are no longer mere buyers. They’re helping design and innovate Eric Migicovsky, learnt an important lesson. “It’s awesome to see the amount products and services, preordering and of support we have after posting funding products that haven’t an update about production,” been created, and even investing he says. Kickstarter learnt directly in early-stage busiits lesson, too: In September, nesses. If you continue to treat it announced new rules that, your customers as mere sources of people trust among other things, require of revenue, you’re missing the recommendaproject creators to better boat—and, quite likely, pushing tions from friends and disclose risks and challenges them into the arms of a competifamily above associated with their projects. tor who understands the truly any form of But crowdfunding is just one important role they can play. advertising. way to get customers involved. For a look at the opportuniSource: Nielsen Quirky, a New York City company ties, and perils, of this new custhat manufactures household tomer-centric model, consider goods and tech accessories the Pebble Watch. The company suggested and voted on by its 300,000-strong launched via the crowdfunding platform community of citizen inventors, uses Kickstarter, raising $10.2 million and another model. Rather than preselling, netting orders for some 85,000 watches. Quirky produces selected products at its When the anticipated September delivery own risk and rewards “influencers”—those date came and went without explanation, who have helped to refine the product— Pebble took a serious beating. But the with royalties on the items’ sales, which company rallied, posting regular updates,
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