Living in the Future, Keynote on Disruptive Trends, e-Estonia, and more.
Last newsletter of 2023 with some curated content that MadeMeThink.
This is MadeMeThink.xyz – A Weekly Publication with Curated Content for Visionaries, Innovators & Critical Thinkers Exploring the World of Tomorrow. Written by Prof. Thomas Metzler, Ph.D.
This MadeMeThink last week…
Living in the Future
Andrew Bosworth, CTO at Meta & Head of Reality Labs, published an article entitled "Living in the Future" that is worth reading.
Here are a few quotes from the article that MadeMeThink:
“Individual breakthroughs tend to accumulate in a non-linear way until suddenly, the future comes into focus. As the old saying goes, it happens two ways: gradually and then suddenly.”
“AI and the metaverse - represent Meta’s biggest long-term bets on the future.”
“The shift we have seen over the last year suggests there is a path to AI becoming a primary way that people interact with machines (…) We believe one of the most powerful manifestations of cutting-edge AI will be assistants that can understand the world around you and help you throughout your day, eventually without needing to be prompted. “
“Making long-term bets on emerging technologies isn’t easy. It’s not guaranteed to work, and it’s certainly not cheap. It’s also one of the most valuable things a technology company can do — and the only way to remain relevant over the long run.”

Andrew Bosworth is also active on Instagram and he does occasional AMA story sessions that are sometimes pretty interesting and contain good insights.
Keynote on Disruptive Trends
Last week I had the pleasure of giving a keynote talk on "Creating the Future - Challenges and Opportunities of Disruptive Trends" for Digethic.
For this keynote, I chose a critical perspective and challenged the common narratives (disruptive innovation, unicorns etc.) in the start-up and innovation space.
One thought was that should teach and think more about „Nondisruptive Creation“ (Kim & Mauborgne, 2019). This is creation without disruption / destruction. All the demand generated by this kind of innovation is new (e.g. Microfinance, life coaching, Post-it notes, health clubs, crowdfunding).
Another thought was that we should pay more attention to zebras instead of always talking about unicorns.
A unicorn is defined as a privately held startup company that has achieved a valuation of $1 billion or more, often characterised by rapid growth. The “unicorn” term reflects the rarity and perceived value of such a startup.
A zebra in the startup world is a company focused on sustainable growth and social impact, prioritising profitability and societal benefits over rapid growth and high valuations.
I would be happy if I had the opportunity to give such critical keynotes more often in 2024. I have the feeling that an honest and critical discussion of technological developments, innovations and trends provides a greater value than simply demonstrating what is possible because of them.
I would be happy if I had the opportunity to give such critical keynotes more often in 2024.
Below is a slide summarising some of the thoughts from the presentation.
Discussion on e-Estonia
Anyone who follows my content knows that I am interested in Estonia and its development as a digital nation (see “Exploring the Estonian Innovation- and Startup-Ecosystem”). Today I was invited by Sibylle Drexel to discuss the topic of digital transformation in Estonia and Estonian e-Residency.
Beforehand, Mats Kuuskemaa from the e-Residency team gave a presentation, which had some interesting new information for me. For example, I didn't know that there are 827 eResidents from Austria and that they have founded 270 companies in Estonia.
Mats also pointed me to an interesting documentary, "RODEO - Taming a Wild Country" (trailer see below), which provides a historical perspective on Estonia and its rebuilding after the post-Soviet era. I will certainly watch it over the holidays.
You can find the Rodeo Full Documentary on Youtube; I will watch it on YouTube with (auto generated) English Subtitles.
Quote of the Week
“A worthy goal for a year is to learn enough about a subject so that you can’t believe how ignorant you were a year earlier” - Kevin Kelly
Reflection questions:
What did you learn in 2023?
What do you want to learn in 2024?
Disclaimer: The thoughts published in this publication are my personal opinion and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation for any type of action. I am not a financial expert. The startups or corporates highlighted in this publication have caught my interest. This mention is not an endorsement or recommendation to engage with them. Readers should always do their own research.