Why our world will never be the same.
- The biggest single change in the past two decades was Internet. 4.5 out of 7 billion people on the planet learn, work and socialize, thanks to the internet. When I graduated from college, that number was only 4% of global population. 7 years later, when I became an entrepreneur, the number increased to 16%. By the time I started Neo Ventures, a fund investing entrepreneurial capital in entrepreneurs with truly exceptional ideas and personal drive, this same percentage has more than doubled and reached almost half of the population. Today, the number is 64% and I still have a lot more time to see and experience from life.
- The Internet delivered a very basic human value, which most people did not have: autonomy. The current environment will take the desire for more autonomy to a new level. That is the reason why the world will not be the same anymore as the way we used to know it until 2020.
- Every person who has access to the Internet, has access to both valid and invalid information about what C-19 is and what its effects are on different industries and people. Most people perhaps are already feeling C-19 as the second biggest change, after Internet. I expect a “new normal” in life, from how counterparts establish trust, transact and manage risks to how enterprises and communities behave. Social models and technologies, supporting human autonomy, distancing and remote management of assets and of people, will take over current models.
- Born around 1485, Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who claimed Mexico for Spain. While weaponry and tactics played a role, most of the the power he exerted in the New World was directly caused by European diseases. The smallpox epidemic Mr. Cortés brought on his ship spread inward and decimated Mexico, reducing its population by 40 percent and killing 15 million people. Other European diseases, such as measles and mumps, reduced the New World population by 90 percent or more. Europe was not spared: the Black Death bubonic plague killed 25 million people in western Europe in the 14th century, about half the regional population. Damage from C-19 is just under 250,000 people, but information from the Internet makes C-19 feel, as if each of us is a target of a new biological weapon, with no remedy to date. The remedy I see is the example of people and societies who already practice autonomy. They will lead by example, showing the others how to be immune. Immunity will not come from a vaccine or a magic pill. It will come from practicing responsibility.
- Around 2015, I began to believe that people who dare to make deep changes in the way we access and use the Internet will take the concept of autonomy to a completely new level. Subsequently, I decided to invest in those who share this vision.
- Following this concept, I started supporting two teams with two different ideas , yet both brought remarkable success. One of them had the goal of making space easy to use for human communications needs through small satellites, while the other was aiming to change the way legal medicine is capable to test legal cannabis, to help cure disease and psychological traumas.
Looking back at how everything started from single ideas of two entrepreneurs throughout the years, I am glad to see that their teams, EnduroSat from Bulgaria, and GemmaCert from Israel, are continuing their development and expansion. The technologies behind those startups will contribute even more to achieving autonomy and positive change in the world. People who share, listen, invest, and have courage can serve as an inspiration to all other people who carry new ideas and might need some encouragement to do the first step. C-19 brought many unexpected events and loses to the whole world and it affected each person and business in one way or another. However, one of the positive insights is the fact that more people started paying attention to ideas and are willing to understand the direction in which we are all headed.
The world will not be the same as before, so adaptability and innovation will be among the most crucial factors that will help us keep our lifestyle and achieve even a better one. Yet, we are also the ones who can change the world with our ideas and co-create the new norm.
