the smartest brains in business 2010 and beyound

8/14/2019 The smartest brains in business 2010 and beyound

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smartest brains in business

Welcome to Smarta’s rst eBook.

To mark the entering o not jst

a new year but a new decade

we thoght we’d ask 30 o the

smartest brains in bsiness how

the thoght the entreprenerial

landscape wold evolve over the

net 10 ears.

Entrepreners, marketers, investors,

athors, pblishers, models-trned-

retailers, Dragons, and Twitter roalt

alike, we asked them two simple qestions:

This eBook captres their views not so

mch or posterit, bt as an act o

collaboration and inspiration. We’d like

to thank all or contribtors and rge

that, shold o nd it sel, o share

it b linking to this page, tweeting abot

it or emailing the link to or contacts

in the same spirit as the contribtors.

Where do o see the

biggest opportnities or

entrepreners in 2010?

How will the sccessl

companies o the net 10

ears dier rom those othe previos decade?

what’sthis?




trend analysisSo what did the smartest brains in bsiness

have to sa? Well we’ll let o discover

that or orsel, bt the ollowing Wordle

provides a snapshot.



Imran HakimCEO, Hakim Group

Lcian TarnowskiFounder and CEO,

BraveNewTalent.com

Thomas PowerFounder, Ecademy

Amanda RoseCreative Strategist,

and Founder of Twestival

Barr VitoPartner, Winston & Strawn;

co-founder, Bootlaw

Matt ThomasEditor, Smarta

Click on a brain to view each sbmission.

Once viewed, click smarta logo to retrn to this page

Dog Richard

Entrepreneur and investor,founder of SchoolforStartups

Sarah Been

Founder, MySingleFriend.comand Tepilo

Craig Newmark

Founder, Craigslist

Phil Jones

Executive Director, Brother UK

Zee Kane

Editor, TheNextWeb

Jlie Meer

Chief Executive, AriadneCapital and online Dragon

Ryan CarsonFounder, Carsonied

Michael SmithFounder, Firebox.com

and Mind Candy

Stewart TownsendManager, Sun Startup

Essentials EMEA

Ben KeeneFounder, Tribewanted

Ale BellingerFounder, SmallBizPod

Dave McQeenFounder, Magnicent Minds

Conrad WindhamEntrepreneur and CEO

of U308 Goldings plc

Basheera KhanTechnology writer and user

experience consultant

Caprice Model and Founder,

By Caprice

Penn PowerFounder and Community

Builder, Ecademy

Sháá WasmndEntrepreneur, founder

and CEO of Smarta

And McloghlinCo-founder, Huddle

Simon D Co-founder, Bulldog

Ben Wa Founder, The Rainmakers

Brad BrtonMotivational speaker, managing

director of 4Networking and

author of Get Off Your Arse

Richard AlvinDirector - Capital

Business Media

Pal Carr Author, ‘Bringing Nothing

to the Party: True Confessions

of a New Media Whore’

Oli BarrettFounder, Make Your Mark

with a Tenner & initiator of

Speednetworking in the UK


contents



ENTREPRENEuR AND INVESTOR,fOuNDER Of SCHOOLfORSTARTuPS

www.schoolorstartps.co.k

www.twitter.com/doglasrichar d

www.twitter.com/s4startps

Dougichard

Te number one opporuniy or new

enrepreneurs in 2010 is o ake advanage

o he sea-change o diminishing coss o

echnology. Everyhing you need o do, any creaive endeavour, is becoming ‘nearly’ ree.


Whether you’re a musician, artist, author, want to dovideo, travel, or you have a passion for making violins,

it’s going to become ‘nearly’ free to express thatpassion in a protable form – you’ll no longer have to be

passionate about what you do, you can solely ‘do’ what

you’re passionate about; and that is a reversal of history.

We’re entering a land-grab of expertise. Each individualhas the opportunity to be the brand or nexus around

something. Whether it’s depreciation of ancient violins,1962 MGs or some sort of deviant sexual practice

- it makes no difference. The heart of it is that thedistribution of media and the conversation we’re

mediating through social media is going to requirearbiters and editors of taste. Twitter is the tip of the

iceberg and the true opportunity of 2010 will be to takethe passion you have and build a working world around it.

Business as an activity is going to be measured on othermetrics beyond short-term protability. The notion of

protability is going to refer back to what it once meant,because we have a system now where the prot of a

company is not knowable in the time period when it isearning. That’s the failure of the banks – they thoughtthey were making a prot, and they were not.

Whether you like it or not, if you’re running a businessyou’re going to be held accountable. No one ever asks

you ‘what portion of the world’s natural resources youused in pursuit of this outcome?’ If we burdened every

single thing in this world with its true cost, and weasserted that the earth itself is a bank of irretrievable

resources that you have to contribute to as much toas you give up, then there’d be a marked argument to

measure things differently.

As we’re going to be held accountable as businesses

on measures we’re not held accountable for now, asentrepreneurs we’re going to need bigger shoulders

than ever.

http://www.schoolforstartups.co.uk/

http://www.twitter.com/douglasrichard


http://www.twitter.com/s4startups




http://www.schoolforstartups.co.uk/



PHIL JONES

ExECuTIVE DIRECTOR, BROTHER uK www.thecorporatebbble.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/philjones40

www.twitter.com/brother_k

Social media networks have opened up

global markets and customers are now

only a keystroke away. Listening to the

buzz in the networks can create unique

opportunities to meet the fast changing

appetites of today’s customers.

Time, attention and trust continue to be

the big barriers for market penetration.

Time-poor people with low levels of

attention and trust for what you have to

say or do. Opportunities exist for goods

or services which assist in managing the

work/life balance. More people are roam

(not home) working. They will need more

cloud and mobile-based applications

which allow them to run their virtual

businesses and lives.

New decade businesses will harness

the power of the crowd. The key mantra:

‘collaborate, elaborate and adapt’.

Those companies which listen will

redene the way businesses are run:

rening, reviewing and personalising

products or experiences quickly.

Hyper-speed is the new essence of

doing business. Blink and you’ll miss

out as fads explode and fade. New

communication platforms like Google

Wave will provide the platforms for

global collaboration at a personal and

enterprise level – business will be morecollaborative, less centralised, more

de-sensitised.

Businesses will come and go more

quickly, by design. Businesses will be

a cocktail of different ideas, delivery

mechanisms and origins.

Massive change lies ahead, the

successful companies of the next

decade will launch products highly

tuned to their market, needing lower

levels of market development funding.

The crowd will take them to market,

be their marketing machine and their

product development engines.

here’s never been a beter

worse ime o sar a business.

An oxymoron is undeniable i

you consider how diferenhe landscape acing

enrepreneurs looks now,

compared o previous

recessions.


http://www.thecorporatebubble.blogspot.com/


http://www.twitter.com/philjones40

http://www.twitter.com/brother_uk

http://www.twitter.com/brother_uk

http://www.twitter.com/philjones40





Zee KaneEDITOR, THENExTWEB

www.thenetweb.com

www.ee.me

www.twitter.com/ee

The perception of the mobile has

changed drastically since the release

of the iPhone and it has opened

people’s eyes as to how easy it now

is to be mobile yet ‘connected’.

Therefore, I predict people will thirst

for ideas that won’t require them to

be stuck behind a computer but rather

out there, developing their ofine

community but still connected to the

world via their mobile.

Seed funding took off during the latter

part of the last decade and I see that

continuing to develop, producing and

funding increasingly innovative ideas.

We’ll see businesses and individuals

explore unusual, innovative but

potentially lucrative business ideas.

An increasing belief that experience

(rather than extensive education) is

more benecial to success will see

an entirely new era of successful

companies and business leaders,

with age and cultural origins very

different from the CEOs and founders

of the past.

Small businesses and ‘personalities’

will thrive – and it may only take a few

people, or even just one, to create

a successful and highly-inuential

company.


http://www.thenextweb.com/


http://www.zee.me/

http://www.zee.me/

http://www.twitter.com/zee



http://www.zee.me/




JULIE

MEYERCHIEf ExECuTIVE, ARIADNE CAPITAL

AND ONLINE DRAGON

www.ariadnecapital.com

www.twitter.com/jliemariemee r

www.bbc.co.k/dragonsden/dragons/jliemeer.shtml

There is a profound network-orientation to business

in 2010, and that goes further than just the fact

that social networks have become pervasive.

The winners of this next phase of business are

those companies who understand their role in the

ecosystem in which they operate and are able

to align the business model for the ecosystem.

So the biggest opportunities are those wherethe entrepreneurs are able to leverage what I call

‘ecosystem economics’.

The best companies ‘think big, start small, move

fast’. The successful companies of the next 10

years may be start-ups or established players,

but they will ‘think big, start small, move fast’ in

their innovation and growth. There is a new elite

being established globally who are fast-growing

companies.


http://www.ariadnecapital.com/


http://www.twitter.com/juliemariemeyer


http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/dragons/juliemeyer.shtml







Sarah Beeny fOuNDER MySINGLEfRIEND.COM AND TEPILO

www.msingleriend.com

www.tepilo.com

www.twitter.com/sarahbeen y

www.twitter.com/tepilo

The greatest opportunities will be towards social media-related

services and mobile applications. With the advent of social media

and apps, new services can be launched very quickly and can

also be readily monetised. Investors are looking for early returns

as the whole process of starting a business/service has shortened

– meaning only services with a solid revenue model can provide

adequate prots. As time to market shortens there is even more

pressure to get established quickly, which ultimately requires

revenue to put back in.

Mobile services are set to expand further and may be able to

cash in on the digital switchover, leaving more airspace for other

services. I think the mobile internet will expand signicantly in the

next few years.

We came a long way over the last decade and I think it’s been

proved that large sites with huge registrations don’t necessarily

lead to huge prots – although they can generate signicant

investment.

It’s becoming harder to come up with new ideas – so the most

successful companies this decade will still look to solve a genuine

need in an innovative way – rather than just do something better

than the rest.

There’s been a huge shift towards online services and I still think

this is where the greatest successes will be seen – we may also

see a ‘green shift’ to companies who take environmental issues

seriously.


http://www.mysinglefriend.com/


http://www.tepilo.com/


http://www.twitter.com/sarahbeeny


http://www.twitter.com/tepilo








MichaelSmithfOuNDER, fIREBOx.COM AND MIND CANDy

www.mindcand.com

www.twitter.com/acton

Social Gaming exploded in 2009. Over 60 million

people play Farmville every month, and a sizable

proportion of them are prepared to pay cash for virtual

items. Zygna is barely two-years-old but is already

generating revenues of $200m+ and rumoured to be

eyeing up an IPO.

More than 10 million people subscribe to World of

Warcraft but the bigger opportunity lies with developers

who can create fun, multi-player games that appeal tothe hundreds of millions of people who prefer lighter

touch, more casual gaming.

In 1998 when I left my job to launch Firebox.com my

boss told me I was crazy and the only people who’d

ever make money from the internet were porn moguls.

Historically, society overestimates the short-term

effects of disruptive technology, but underestimates its

long-term effects. This overestimation led to the dot.

com bubble of the late nineties and the subsequent

nancial meltdown. A decade on, we’re now starting

to understand the extraordinary opportunities the

internet has to offer. The most successful companies

of the next decade will be those that appreciate we’re

still in the early days of the internet revolution. There’s

still a huge amount of opportunity for bold, ambitious

and innovative companies.

As Bachman-Turner Overdrive pointed out in the

seventies: ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet’.


http://www.mindcandy.com/


http://www.twitter.com/acton






BEN KEENE

fOuNDER, TRIBEWANTED

www.tribewanted.com

www.twitter.com/benkeene

I see the immediate opportunities

as being green tech, 360 media and

crowd-funded start-ups.

However, the last great marketing

differentiator is business ethics. Thebusinesses that show clearly how

they are giving you value for money,

creating positive social impact and

minimising environmental damage will

be the global brands in 2020.


http://www.tribewanted.com/


http://www.twitter.com/benkeene







ALEX fOuNDER, SMALLBIzPOD

www.smallbipod.com

www.twitter.com/alebellinge r

MONEY AND MOBILE HOLD

THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES.

FINANCIAL SERVICES ARE

RIPE FOR A REVOLUTIONARY,

DISRUPTIVE IDEA AND A DYNAMIC

ENTREPRENEUR WHO THINKSBIG. OF COURSE THE BARRIERS

TO ENTRY ARE HIGH, BUT

THEN SO ARE THE POTENTIAL

REWARDS. COMPANIES SUCH

AS MONETISE AND ZOPA ARE

ALREADY IN THIS SPACE, BUT I’D

HOPE TO SEE OTHERS TAKING ONTHE CHALLENGE OF CREATING A

NEW FORM OF BANKING.

BELLINGER


http://www.twitter.com/alexbellinger

http://www.smallbizpod.com/








fOuNDER Of MAGNIfICENT MINDS

www.davidmcqeen.co.k

www.twitter.com/davidmcqeen

DAVE MCQUEEN

THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR

ENTREPRENEURS THIS YEAR WON’T

BE INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC. IT’S MORE

ABOUT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF

THE FEAR PEOPLE HAVE AROUND

BUILDING OR DEVELOPING BUSINESSES. WHILE MANY ARE

LAMENTING THE LACK OF FUNDING

FROM BANKS OR ANGELS, I

BELIEVE THE OPPORTUNITY LIES

IN BEING MORE CREATIVE WITH

OUR OFFERINGS. HOW DO WE

ADD VALUE TO EXISTING OR NEW

CLIENTS? HOW CAN WE DEVELOP

LONGER-TERM PARTNERSHIPS? HOW

CAN WE IMPROVE OUR CUSTOMER LOYALTY? THOSE ARE WHAT I SEE

MORE AS OPPORTUNITIES, RATHER

FOCUSING ON AN INDUSTRY.

I hate making predicitions about the future, but business is cyclical, isn’t it.

Evidently those who tend to stay around for a while really know how to manage

their talent. If you have a company, even if it’s a small concern getting those

who work with or for you enthused will help the company to be more resilient.

Of course, technology is making it so much easier to connect and improve

processes and these tools will be improved over the next decade, but more

importantly for me is getting companies to realise the value of their customers –

both internal and external.


http://www.davidmcqueen.co.uk/

http://www.twitter.com/davidmcqueen



http://www.davidmcqueen.co.uk/



fOuNDER, CARSONIfIED

www.carsonied.com

www.twitter.com/rancarson

R Y A NC A R S O N

I THINK NANO TECHNOLOGY IS GOING TO BE

HUGE IN FIVE YEARS, SO PEOPLE WHO ARE

TACKLING BIG IDEAS IN THAT SPACE NOW

COULD HAVE ENORMOUS POTENTIAL IN

THE NEAR FUTURE. I’VE BEEN READING RAY

KURZWEIL’S ‘THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR’

OVER CHRISTMAS AND IT’S BEEN BLOWING

MY MIND.


The successful small companies of

the next 10 years will be smaller and

more agile. The power entrepreneurs

have gained through hosted services

will grow exponentially in the next 10

years - tools such as Google Docs

are only the tip of the iceberg.

http://www.carsonified.com/


http://www.twitter.com/ryancarson






MANAGER, SuN STARTuP ESSENTIALS EMEA

www.k.sn.com/startpessentials

www.stewarttownsend.com

www.twitter.com/stewarttownsen d

StewartTownsend

The biggest opportunities in 2010 are

going to come to those who wait – to

the entrepreneur who doesn’t develop a

product or a market they think exists,

but or the ones who build a brand, deliver

that to market and thus solve a problem

better, more eectively or or a lower cost.

I they convey that message simply to

the marketplace by ully understanding

what business they are in, they can build

a revenue stream quickly because they

understand the value o the problem theysolve and the value o that to the customer.

Large corporate entities are shrinking. Look at the

number of large IT companies – we’re now down to

Oracle, HP, IBM, SAP, and Microsoft. 10 years ago

we had 50-100 large IT corporations – so what we’re

seeing is a movement back to smaller, more agile

organisations, with some larger powerhouses driving

the innovation, R&D and market, and buying up the

smaller companies as they solve problems the large

ones aren’t agile enough to solve themselves.

Companies need to be more agile and aggressive to

market, less focused on fast growth and acquisition

and more on solving problems, making our lives

simpler and creating new sectors. Who would have

thought 10 years ago a phone would be able to

play games, enable you to gamble and also send

messages?


http://www.uk.sun.com/startupessentials


http://www.stewarttownsend.com/


http://www.twitter.com/stewarttownsend







Once again this decade is about

being a bit more innovative and

eco-friendly. It’s also about

tightening up all the admin costs.

As entrepreneurs we cannot afford

to overlook cashows and

management of our companies.

Overall it’s back to basics but anexciting time because it’s not about

luck anymore - it’s about good old

fashioned hard work. And those that

do it will prevail.

I see huge opporuniy in eco-riendly producs

and advancemens. As ar as reail is concerned,

which is my specialy, here’s sill money o be made.

However, we have o be much more original, work

harder and ofer more compeiive prices. Tere isn’

a lo o money ou here so when he cusomer buys

hey make a much smarer and premediaed choice.

Tose who are aware o his, undersand his andadap o his will be successul.


fOuNDER, By CAPRICE

www.caprice-online.com

Caprice



Sháá

WasmundENTREPRENEuR, fOuNDER

AND CEO Of SMARTA

www.smarta.com

www.shaawasmnd.com

www.twitter.com/shaawasmn d

Collaboration presents our

biggest opportunity in 2010. It’s

simple really, but then the best

things are. It’s not just technology

that allows people to collaborate

more freely, it’s people’s

attitudes. Social media has

gone a long way to encouraging

people to learn to ‘share’.

As John Donne said, ‘No man

is an island unto himself’. We

simply cannot achieve great

things by ourselves. Whatever

we as entrepreneurs can achieve

individually, we can achieve

tenfold collectively.

The internet will be at the heart

of everything we do this decade,

not just at the periphery. Therewill no longer be a handful of

large corporations (although

those will of course still exist)

who have a monopoly on an

industry. Instead there will be

many, smaller businesses that

are swift to respond to changing

market and opportunities.

Entire markets that we are yet

to know we need will suddenly

appear. Over the last 10 years,

Apple has without doubt been

the best at doing this: the iPod,

iTunes and the iPhone. For me,

what is most interesting is the

App Store. It epitomises the

opportunities for entrepreneurs

over the next decade. The App

Store provides applications for

products that 10 years ago we

hadn’t heard of let alone knew

we couldn’t live without. The next

10 years will be about being eet

of foot and collaborating.


http://www.smarta.com/


http://www.shaawasmund.com/


http://www.twitter.com/shaawasmund







CO-fOuNDER, HuDDLE

www.hddle.net

www.twitter.com/bandrew

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE

BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES

FOR ENTREPRENEURS

IN 2010? CHINA, INDIA,

BRAZIL. SECTOR-WISE,

I THINK 2010 COULD

FINALLY BE THE YEAR FORMOBILE – SMARTPHONES

ARE BECOMING MORE

PREVALENT – ALMOST

UBIQUITOUS IN SOME

DEMOGRAPHICS –

AND THE SCOPE FOR

BRILLIANT, LIFE-

CHANGING MOBILE

APPLICATIONS IS HUGE.

We’ve all learned a lot in the last

two years. Successful doesn’t

necessarily mean big. Great

companies will be smart, lean and

collaborative – specialising in their

core competencies and partnering

wherever appropriate.


http://www.huddle.net/


http://www.twitter.com/bandrew






ENTREPRENEuR AND CEO, u308 GOLDINGS PLC,

www.3o8holdings.com

CONRD WINDHAM

To reduce carbon dioxide

emissions we need to develop a

better understanding of energy. As the

London School of Economics statedin 2009, ‘if countries really aspire to

cut emissions, we suggest the motor

of an effective mechanism is a direct

approach to the decarbonization of the

global energy system, rather than an

indirect approach via manipulation of

the economy’.

It is for this reason that I believe

there are a multitude of opportunities.

Entrepreneurs will lead the wayin providing solutions to reduce

carbon emissions through the

invention, improvement, marketing,

discovery, or otherwise, of products

and technologies that are more energy-

efcient and serve to decarbonise

societies.

Climate change is an emotive issue,

and there is a growing audience within

the UK and internationally that want to

do their bit to reduce their own carbonfootprint through introducing green

technology products into their lives.

Self-reliance on energy will continue to

grow through the continued installation

of solar panels, photovoltaics, and

wind turbines, over the next decade.

Without a doubt, 2010 will be a year

for entrepreneurs to tap into the green

technology sector, which has an innite

number of opportunities waiting to beexploited.

Te bigges opporuniies

or enrepreneurs in 2010

lie wihin he ‘green ech’

secor. Te coverage given o

he 2009 UN climae change

conerence in copenhagen was

evidence in isel o he ever-

growing global imporance o

combaing climae change.


http://www.u3o8holdings.com/





Basheera KHAN

TECHNOLOGy WRITER AND uSER ExPERIENCE

CONSuLTANT

www.basheerakhan.com

www.twitter.com/bash


Great opportunities lie in the convergence

of mobile devices, e-commerce and social

enterprise, and in creating participatory

roles for consumers. Entrepreneurs

need to make it easy for consumers to

contribute to social good, either through

charity (by say, adding a small charitable

donation to a purchase they were

going to make anyway) or by bringing

social microfnance lending schemes,

such as Kiva.org, into the mainstream

consciousness.

I don't think we can overstate the impact of

people's awareness of climate change in shaping

the successful businesses of the next decade.

I predict that we will see a growing consumer

demand for companies to full obligations in

transparent and ethical corporate governance.

The winners and leaders will be the ones that nd

a way to capitalise on thrift and sustainability at

every point of the supply chain.

http://www.basheerakhan.com/


http://www.twitter.com/bash

http://www.twitter.com/bash




PENNYfOuNDER AND COMMuNITy BuILDER, ECADEMy

www.ecadem.com

www.ecadem.com/accont.php?id=1001

www.twitter.com/pennpowe r

Listening online is a skill that

requires an open, random and

supportive attitude, a non-

blinkered view that says to

the world, ‘come to me and

share your thoughts whatever

they are’. I have seen so many

Ecademy members adapt their

products and services to suit

the words, phrases and needsof the new economy. They

know how to do this because

they listen with the right intent,

they know what they want

and they know to listen to the

needs of others. There is still

signicant money to be found,

but not if entrepreneurs use the

old way of hunting them out.

By the end of the 2010s we will

see two sides of the business

world: Those that became

‘networked businesses’ and

those who did not.

Those who utilise networks will

have several highly benecial

features: They’ll operate a low

xed-cost business, low ofceand employee costs. They’ll

have fast access to many skills

and resources. They’ll supply

their services into a European

and global market. They’ll

adapt fast to market conditions.

They’ll be highly sensitive to

customer needs. Their ability to

support others will make them

highly attractive for others to

advocate and refer business to,reducing marketing expenses.


POWERThe biggest opportunities or entrepreneurs liewithin the networks o online conversations,

providing they learn to listen!

http://www.ecademy.com/


http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=1001


http://www.twitter.com/pennypower







BURTONBRAD

MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER, MANAGING

DIRECTOR Of 4NETWORKING AND

AuTHOR Of GET Off yOuR ARSE

www.4networking.biwww.bradbrton.bi

www.getoorarse.bi

www.twitter.com/bradbrton

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE INTERNET, BABY: GET APPROACHABLE.

SITTING IN IVORY TOWERS WAITING FOR PEOPLE TO COME

TO YOU? FORGET IT. MODERN-DAY ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS

ABOUT GETTING OFF YOUR ARSE AND BEING ACCESSIBLE –

BE IT FACE-TO-FACE, DIRECT PHONE NUMBER, TWITTER,AND, DARE I SAY IT, TAKING CALLS!


The entrepreneurs who will succeed in 2010 and

beyond are the ones who form the crowd, and the

only thing they sell to that crowd is themselves.

In the next 10 years we’ll see more of what I’ve

been talking about for ages: ‘creating the conditionswhere people buy, instead of you selling’. When

was the last time you went into Dixons and asked

the bloke behind the counter for the benets and

features of an iPhone? Never – because it doesn’t

happen. Think about it: the sale has been made well

before you go to buy it.

It’s the time for the eet of foot. Big ivory towers

suck and conventional routes to market will

continue to be circumvented by social media. It’s all

about people, all about the internet, and all about

relationships. Get those right and the business

follows – providing you have a product or service

people want.

Trust in business is massive, never more so than in

this next decade – would you support someone you

don’t like, someone you don’t know, someone you

don’t trust? The answer is probably no, in which

case the key to brand advocates, i.e. creating the

conditions where people buy your products, rather

than you selling, is trust.

The successful companies of the next decade will

be driven by leaders who embrace and truly live by

the trust and approachability ethos: selling products

because they believe in them, not because they

make you margin.

http://www.twitter.com/bradburton





If you’re not pushing out time-sensitive

offers on Twitter, or awarding discounts

to the Foursquare mayor of your bar/

restaurant or shop then you’re already

behind the curve. And if you have no

idea what either of those two servicesare, it’s time to hire someone who does.

Also, no one is going to go broke with

local, mobile dating.

The successful companies of this

decade will have personality. Our

obsession with social networks, blogs

and tweets means we expect to be

able to talk directly to companies and

have them talk back. The successful

companies will be the ones who seek out

our friendship rather than just our cash.

It’s hideous and cheesy, but it’s true.

In 10 years, Ryanair is toast.

The most interesting areas for me are local and mobile. Thanks

to the explosion of smartphones such as the iPhone, we’re

seeing services such as Twitter and Foursquare heavily affecting

how people socialise and shop. Smart entrepreneurs - be they

technology innovators or shopkeepers - should be embracing that.

Paul Carr AuTHOR, ‘BRINGING NOTHING

TO THE PARTy: TRuE

CONfESSIONS Of A NEW

MEDIA WHORE’

www.palcarr.com

www.twitter.com/palcarr


http://www.paulcarr.com/


http://www.twitter.com/paulcarr






Simon CO-fOuNDER, BuLLDOG

www.meettheblldog.com

www.twitter.com/blldognatra l

All indicators point to a long and protracted period o recovery or the UK.

However, there are still plenty o opportunities or businesses to exploit.

At Bulldog we will be taking advantage o avourable exchange rates

to empower export driven growth in growth in 2010, or instance.

The next ten years will see an explosion

of different ways for people to

communicate with, shop for, and learn

about goods and services. This will be

primarily driven by the transformative

power of technological change. At the

moment we are only scratching thesurface of the potential of the internet to

change the way we work and live.

This transformation creates challenges

and opportunities for companies in

equal measure. Large companies will

have to deal with increasingly savvy and

demanding people who have a much

deeper level of understanding about

what is going on behind the scenes.

Large companies will have to adapt to

consumers with many more options tobuy smaller brands outside of the regular

options at conventional retailers where

big brands traditionally dominate.

The key for succeeding in this changing

environment will be to empower people

with information about your products

and services, and making ethics central

to everything you do rather than limiting

this to the preserve of the CSR or PR

departments.

Duy


http://www.meetthebulldog.com/


http://www.twitter.com/bulldognatural






BEN WAYfOuNDER, THE RAINMAKERS

www.makingrain.com

www.twitter.com/benwa y

The fundamentals

of business won’t

change – good

businesses are the

ones that adopt new

technology, innovate

and invest in their

people; I can’t see that

changing in the next10 years.

I would like to say

that hopefully people

will have learned the

mistakes of the last

few years, but from

my experience most

people forget after ve

years and then delude

themselves that yet

again the gravy train

is endless until it

suddenly falls off a cliff!

2010 presents a number o opportunities or smaller players where bigger

competitors have ailed - and anybody with capital at the moment can make

a killing buying insolvent companies at a bargain price. Technology is also

moving ast so a lot o action will be seen in the mobile /tablet market this year.


http://www.makingrain.com/


http://www.twitter.com/benway






The biggest opportunity or entrepreneurs

in 2010 is to be ound embracing ‘apps’ and

technology. Computer applications, cloud

computing and new and innovative sotware

and systems allow entrepreneurs to start and

run businesses like never beore. Embracing

these systems and engineering them into

their workow allows smaller businesses to

punch ar above the weight and operate at a

ar lower headcount and fxed cost.

Success over the next 10 years will be measured by change and

evolution. Businesses are required to evolve and react to changeand adapt their business models now more than ever before.

The world is far more immediate than the one which started the

last millennium. Social media was primarily the telephone, news

was broadcast essentially in xed time slots and you had to battle

VCRs to record television. Failure to embrace will see businesses

embracing failure.

DIRECTOR, CAPITAL BuSINESS MEDIA

www.bmmagaine.co.k

www.twitter.com/ralvin

Success over the next 10 years

will be measured by change

and evolution.


http://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/

http://www.twitter.com/ralvin



http://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/



OliBarrefOuNDER, MAKE yOuR MARK WITH A TENNER

& INITIATOR Of SPEEDNETWORKING IN THE uK.

www.dailnetworker.co.kwww.twitter.com/olibarret t

1. Join scientists and politicians

to save the planet.

2. Become the most trusted people

in the world as trust in everyone

else fades.

3. Talk to more people who are

completely different from you,

from different countries, places,

ages and backgrounds.

4. Spend more time away from

screens of any kind.

5. Relax, sleep and laugh a lot more.

6. Reclaim the power of email

by communicating like normal

people and not in dreadful

corporate jargon.

7. Reclaim the power of print

by creating something worth

receiving.8. Save people money.

9. Help people lter information.

10. Give time doing what you do best

for a good cause.

11. Lend someone a tenner.

he op en Bigges Opporuniies

or Enrepreneurs in 2010:


http://www.dailynetworker.co.uk/

http://www.twitter.com/olibarrett



http://www.dailynetworker.co.uk/




Historically, entrepreneurs havebeen seen as risky and rebellious,

like Delboy from Only Fools

and Horses or characterised as

everyone’s favourite villain like

Michael Douglas in Wall Street.

CEO, HAKIM GROuPhakim-grop.com

www.twitter.com/imranhaki m

Hakim I m ra n

However, the rst real recession of the

digital age has truly reformed opinion

with the masses now waking up to the

realisation that entrepreneurship gives

rise to innovation, employment, tax

revenues and, ultimately, wealth – and

that anybody can participate. You simply

need the desire, commitment and state

of mind to make great things happen.

Entrepreneurs in my experience tend to

be optimists and as we kick off 2010 the

entrepreneurial landscape is littered with

opportunity. History again demonstrates

that recessionary times heighten the

demand for change and challenge

existing business models.

The focus on climate change has meant

that governments around the world have

a renewed focus on controlling domesticand commercial carbon footprints which

presents unprecedented opportunities

for innovators and entrepreneurs. The

convergence of technology and greater

awareness of cloud computing is also

giving rise to a multitude of opportunities.

And every industry is now truly global.

The success stories over the next 10

years will embrace this globalisation

ensuring that their proposition is resilientin this new world order. When everyone

around them is risk averse, they will see

the obvious for being obvious before it

becomes obvious – and take action.

2010 ill b i i d d t ti

http://www.hakim-group.com/


http://www.twitter.com/imranhakim






Lucian TarnowskifOuNDER AND CEO, BRAVENEWTALENT.COM

www.bravenewtalent.com

www.twitter.com/lciant

2010 will be a winning decade

for the young entrepreneur – for

the rst time in history, young

people are an authority on

something that really matters in

the economy: the internet. My

advice to any entrepreneur rst

starting out is to think about

what you know and think about

what you’re passionate about.

Think about what you want to

change.

The other hot sector is green

business. There will be many

new businesses created this

year around this sector and

I strongly believe innovation

lies on the edge – because

they’re so agile, startups have

a unique opportunity to react totoday’s challenges. Many global

issues are likely to be solved

by individuals with innovative

business models, rather than

governments or corporations.

Businesses this decade will

be small, faster and more

effective. As we saw from the

last decade, we are living in

times of exponential change.

This decade will be the decade

of the global entrepreneur.

The individual that now has

the global marketplace at

their ngertips.

Brand is becoming more and

more important. People no

longer want to read corporate

jargon, but want to touch and

feel the brands they use.

The personal brand of the

team behind businesses has

also never been so important.

The people in the team shouldlive and breathe the business

values.


http://www.bravenewtalent.com/


http://www.twitter.com/luciant






AMANDA

ROSECREATIVE STRATEGIST, AND fOuNDER Of TWESTIVAL

www.amandarose.com

www.twitter.com/amanda

The biggest opportunities for

entrepreneurs lie in essential services

such as healthcare. As technology

advances and more people have

online access, it is likely that we will

see more innovative ways to manage

and access these important parts of

our lives. Mobile is denitely another

huge area and we’ve only seen the tipof the iceberg when it comes to how

location-based social networks or

mobile payments will have an impact.

Customer service and communication

will be key over the next decade.

Companies will need to stop

hiding behind a phone matrix that

prevents them from dealing directly

with consumers. Real-time, light

communication tools such as Twitter

have given people an expectation

for companies to engage with them

rather than waiting for the phone to

ring. The individual word-of-mouth

will have a lot more power when it

comes to promoting, questioning

and inevitably complaining. How a

brand handles this could make all

the difference.smartest brains in business

http://www.amandarose.com/


http://www.twitter.com/amanda







fOuNDER, ECADEMy

www.ecadem.com

www.ecadem.com/accont.php?id=8

www.twitter.com/thomaspowe r

Networks are the new corporations.

Corporates as we know them today

will not exist. Their cost base is

way too high and their overhead

of buildings, pensions, health

care, PAYE and NI will become

unaffordable. Every employee will

become a supplier. There won’t be

employees by 2030. Jobs will be a

forgotten concept.

POWER

THOMAS

THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITYIS TO BUILD GLOBAL

NETWORKED BUSINESSES.

BAY




http://www.twitter.com/thomaspower





http://www.twitter.com/bazv



PARTNER, WINSTON & STRAWN;

CO-fOuNDER, BOOTLAW

www.winston.com

www.bootlaw.com

www.twitter.com/bavBAY VIOU

The recession is a huge source of opportunity. The

costs of doing business have been driven down

across the board making life difcult for incumbents.

Technology has massively reduced the costs for any

entrepreneur starting up a new business and offers

the chance to communicate with customers and

potential customers on a massive scale.

2010 may also see a change of the UK government.

If so, new policies and changes in regulation

will likely create new business opportunities.

Entrepreneurs should keep their eyes peeled for new

government initiatives which themselves may create

business opportunities. Web and communications

technology is making our world smaller every

day. Over the next 10 years the really successful

companies will be those who have the aspiration

and ambition to engage with customers globally

and who do so. smartest brains in business

http://www.winston.com/


http://www.bootlaw.com/









smartest brains in businessHOMAS Mat

EDITOR Of SMARTA.COM

www.smarta.com

www.twitter.com/smartamat t



http://www.twitter.com/smartamatt







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inclding Dragons’ Den’s Theo Paphitis

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