The indomitable Howard Tullman gave a keynote at the inaugural FUND conference in Chicago recently highlighting the future trends to watch in tech. The lessons were insightful for both new start-ups and companies looking to scale in the fast and crowded tech marketplace. One particularly interesting takeaway relevant to all attending and participating in the upcoming Dublin Web Summit was that "Attention is the new currency". With more than 30,000 investors, companies, entrepreneurs and influencers at this year’s summit – what could be truer?
For all market players, capturing Attention can a big challenge. As the volume of consumer and business facing data increases exponentially; focused Attention time shrinks inversely. So what is the solution?
According to Howard, in the post-web world it takes 3 times as many “touches” to go from prospect to sale, specifically up from 7 to 21. To create these touches instant messaging trumps all. Context trumps content and engagement needs to be Relevant, Resonant and Real-tim
e.
“Instant” also extends beyond engagement and into broader business model innovation. As platforms become increasingly commoditized; speed becomes essential - to the market, in engagement and in service. The fast will eat the slow and the delivery of product and service against the metric of time will drive a new wave of innovation.
Companies leveraging this fact can now start to drive scale from an early stage; which is the surest way to get attention. There is a reducing need for capital to deliver value and utilizing existing infrastructure and service to innovate is allowing companies to scale at a new pace. The next generation is interested in experience over ownership; utility over possession and time is the scarcest resource, both for the company and the customer.
Ireland provides the perfect launch pad for companies to scale globally, quickly. With talent, connectivity, technology leaders and a business environment built to enable companies to go big efficiently. Just ask any of the top 10 companies born online– they’re all here, as are many of the new comers, see what Slack has to say about #Ireland.
I know the 2015 Dublin WebSummit will be a big success and, if your business likes Ireland, why not stay? Contact idaemergebiz@ida.ie; we help with that.
Missed us at #WebSummit? Feel free to find out more about our Emerging Business team adn how we can help.
Robert Byrne,
Emerging Business Team, IDA Chicago
Howard A. Tullman is an American serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, educator, writer, lecturer, and art collector. He currently serves as CEO of 1871 Chicago, Managing Partner of G2T3V, LLC, and the Managing Partner of Chicago High Tech Investment Partners LLC.
