Peter hits the nail squarely here. Humans have a hard time understanding exponentials. And the exponential economy seems like a mystery to them. But if you do not organize your community to deal with exponentials, you will likely fail.
Being an entrepreneur today is vastly different than it was 20 years ago.
Today, each of us has access to more capital, more technological tools, more information, more talent, and more computational power than the CEOs of the world’s biggest companies did just two decades ago.
As I think about what it takes to succeed in a world of Abundance and a world of accelerating returns, I focus on six mindsets and tools that every exponential entrepreneur needs to master.
Here’s a quick look:
1. You Must Understand Exponentials
We’re local and linear thinkers in an exponential world.
Our brains haven’t had a significant upgrade in over a million years, whereas our technology is doubling in power every 18 to 24 months.
Exponential technology is transforming products and services and disrupting industries. That’s why Ray Kurzweil and I cofounded Singularity University.
I often talk about my “6 D’s” framework – it’s a lens through which I contextualize all technological change and opportunities:
The 6 Ds Progression:
- Digitized: Turning every product or service into “1’s and 0’s.”
- Deceptive: The doubling of small numbers is deceptive. Start doubling 0.1 to 0.2… 0.4… 0.8… and at this phase, it all looks like “zero.”
- Disruptive: After we reach “1,” just 30 doublings later, we’re at 1 billion.
- Dematerialized: Exponential technology turns tangible “things” into digital apps. I no longer carry around GPS equipment – it’s an app on my phone.
- Demonetized: The cost of duplicating and sending an app is essentially zero.
- Democratized: Once products and services are digital, they go global and can become ubiquitous.
Exponential entrepreneurs use the 6 D’s as a technological road map to predict where technologies are going and when to capitalize on the opportunities. This framework gives them an unfair advantage over competitors.
2. You See the World as Abundant (vs. Scarce)
Exponential entrepreneurs understand that technology is a force that transforms things from scarcity to abundance.
Technology is creating a world of abundance in almost every major arena, including energy, knowledge, transportation, computation, access to education and access to healthcare.
Once these industries transform from scarcity to abundance, their products and services become cheap (or free) and their quality goes through the roof.
Exponential entrepreneurs understand that despite the constant barrage of negative news from the Crisis News Network (my joking term for CNN) and its ilk, the world is becoming better at an extraordinary rate on almost every possible measure, including food, energy, education, poverty and health. (Note: I collect detailed charts on “Evidence of Abundance here.”)
Exponential entrepreneurs also know that scarcity-minded, closed business models ultimately fail, and open platforms ultimately win.
3. You Leverage Exponential Technologies
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4. You Have an MTP and a Moonshot
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5. You Tap the Crowd for Expertise, Solutions & Capital
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6. You Launch Your Vision, Experiment & Disrupt Yourself
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So many good points. Read and execute them all.
Image: luk.s