From bigger to smaller

Tom Goodwin said, “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.”

And as Kevin Kelly has pointed out, “Access is better than ownership.”

Over the last 200 years, the way to get rich was to own the factory. But over the last two decades, the internet has changed everything. The factory is no longer a building where the goal was to do the same thing you did yesterday but a little faster and a little cheaper to make a little more profit. Now, the factory, is a laptop. Now, anyone with 500 bucks can own the factory. There is no leverage by owning the building anymore.

So we’re seeing this door opening. One that Walmart and Goldman Sachs are too big to go through. But we’re seeing freelancers and small business owners and entrepreneurs who are now entering the game. And they are flipping the marketplace upside down.

The future isn’t about how big you can get. No. It’s about being small. It’s about leading a tribe.

[If you want to change the world, think smaller. Don’t worry about changing the entire world. Focus on changing your world.]