All posts filed under: All

Transhumanism – The technological evolution of humankind.

Published by Gert Christen

Transhumanism is considered a philosophical school of thought that seeks to expand the boundaries of human possibilities through the use of technological methods. Rena Seiler, MAS Digital Business student at HWZ University in Zurich, Switzerland, offers insight into the challenges of the transhumanist vision. On February 18, 2021, Perseverance, NASA’s rover, landed safely on Mars. From tabloids to science magazines, the broad media covered the successful landing on the red planet, which marked the kickoff of NASA’s mission. Much of the population watched in fascination as humanity moved one step closer to one of the four explicit goals of NASA’s mission: the colonization of space, starting with Mars. So our aspiration to colonize space is no longer science fiction at all but reality. Colonizing space: Is the human object as ready as its rockets? The vision of space colonization also poses challenges for the “human object.” Currently, a one-way trip to Mars takes nine months. The associated strain on the human body leads to various, sometimes lasting, physical impairments. The question inevitably arises as to …

Data is the new oil

Published by Gert Christen

Michael Palmer of the Association of National Advertisers expanded on Clive Humby’s statement. “Data is the new oil. It’s valuable, but if unrefined, it cannot really be used. (Oil) has to be changed into gas, plastic, chemicals, etc. to create a valuable entity that drives profitable activity; so must data be broken down, analyzed for it to have value.”* We’ve come a long way in data as the basis for businesses, and we’re learning about its legal, social, and ethical boundaries along the way. But there’s no doubt about the trend: Companies who use data as the sole base for their business are coming. And it’s growing into big business for many, not just social media platforms (exploiting user-generated data in return for free services), storage companies (operating the data centers where our clouds host our data), and companies providing software-as-a service (SaaS). Data in recruiting and talent management: Recruiting and managing employees is still mostly database-driven. Enter keywords, and databases, like LinkedIn, will list results. Consequently, resumes and LinkedIn profiles today are optimized for …

The State of the Corporate Startup

Published by Gert Christen

Video and presentations for download from the “Corporate Venturing” event on October 28, 2020. The event was organized by the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco and was sponsored by the Swiss Business Hub. Experts from Swisscom, the Swiss Railways SBB and Paul Holland from Mach49 and Foundation Capital shared their approaches to corporate innovation (more about the speakers at the end of this post). Here are the recording of the event and the speaker presentations: Zoom video recording Swisscom presentation Swiss Railways SBB presentation Mach49 innovation consultants presentation Thank you to the Chamber for organizing the event and to the three speakers for sharing their work and their inputs. Feel free to download the slides and the event video. If you have an opinion on corporate innovation let me know and let’s start a dialog. The panelists were: Swisscom (Lukas Peter, Head of Silicon Valley Outpost): Swisscom started an outpost in Silicon Valley 20 years ago and are one of the most visible and present partners and investors in the Swiss innovation scene. …

I don’t buy it! The rationale Amazon gave for buying Zoox.

Published by Gert Christen

Amazon bought a self-driving car company. Zoox, the company that gave me my first-ever autonomous car ride (unforgettable, even though it wasn’t the wild ride shown here). Congratulations to the entire Zoox team — I’m very, very happy for you! So why did Amazon buy Zoox? Amazon gave this rationale: “We’re acquiring Zoox to help bring their vision of ride-hailing to reality.” And further down in the press release: “Zoox is pioneering the future of ride-hailing by designing autonomous technology from the ground up with passengers front-of-mind.” I don’t buy that Amazon would “help” to pioneer the future of ride-hailing by passengers. Amazon simply doesn’t strike me as a company that altruistically helps others achieve their visions. Furthermore, Amazon isn’t in the people-moving business, a space with already fierce competition, and lots of controversies. I don’t think they’d touch that business with a 10-foot pole. However, Amazon’s own business is plagued by problems that could be solved by self-driving cars:  Cost of last-mile deliveries: Amazon has traditionally used the U.S. Postal Service for many of …

Digigram Newsletter of April 2020!

Published by Gert Christen

Gert Christen’s April 2020 newsletter: This newsletter is dedicated to disruption. Think disruption is over because we accepted apps like Uber or websites like Airbnb? I’ve got news: It’s not over. Entire industries are not only ready for disruption, they’re at the very beginning of being disrupted. I discuss two examples in this newsletter.

Digigram Newsletter of December 2019!

Published by Gert Christen

The bi-monthly newsletter of December 2019. Covering TikTok, the next hot trend, Xaas – Everything as a Service – and the backend business opportunity. Top of the month: 26 Swiss managers & HWZ master students in Silicon Valley, and one of my teams reached 4th place in the startup competition at UC Berkeley.
Meet me here: At UC Berkeley’s “Deplastifying the Planet” course starting in Jan 2020
On my table: Thanks are on my table. Wish all happy holidays and happiness & success for 2020