The venture capitalist Andrew Chen wrote a Twitter thread about how some of the most influential new ideas sounded outrageous when first proposed. He describes Uber, for instance, as “an app that lets you into strangers’ cars” which is really exactly what it is.
This is what I found interesting though:
… these ideas often formed at the seam of the “natives” versus the “immigrants.” If you are Instagram-native, what you consider a great idea for a new retail space or ecomm brand is likely very different than someone who isn’t exposed to the same thousands of pics…
The upcoming generation are using tech in a different way. They are Fortnite-native. Minecraft-native. They are streaming-native. They use “insta” differently. Food delivery will be considered a human right. The expectations will be very different.
I often think about how different generations think about the Megatrends and Big Questions that we explore on this site.
Xennials like me were born in a mostly analog world, but grew up when PCs became common in people’s houses. Millennials always had a PC in their houses, connected to the Internet, and grew up with Nokias and Motorolas. Gen Z have not experienced a life before smartphones with 3G connections.
Each of us will consider questions like data custody, privacy and anoymity differently. They’ll have different views on the place of a ‘computer’ in their lives, and have different ideas on the effects of being always on.
I think that the answers to making the right choices about each of these issues is timeless, but it is the natives, to use Andrew Chen’s term in this context, who will get the word out most effectively. Building an audience will come naturally to them. And because they have navigated social networks in their most socially fraught years in school, are well aware of an audience’s value as capital.
Immigrants like me will use more traditional mediums, like this nearly two decade old blog, and traditional models, like the megatrends and big questions, to raise awareness.