Karim: It’s important to lead with the facts. It’s easy to listen to what friends say or what big figures in the news and popular culture are saying. I think the easiest mistake to fall into is to fall for the speculation rather than the fact and the fundamentals. 

Bertie: I’d agree, there’s so much irrationality in investing with people focussing on-trend investing rather than fundamentals. But the fundamentals are still very important. Unless you’re doing your due diligence and understanding the key drivers of growth for a company, you’re almost just making a bet.

Will I be seeing your TikTok investing accounts any time soon?

Karim: It’s in the pipeline, Cormack! It’s in the pipeline. 

Bertie: We’ve done some timelines.

Karim: We’ll call you up once it’s done.

Bertie: It’s actually on the top of both of our CVs.

Cormack: Well you joke, but it’s actually on the top of someone’s CV

Karim: And justifiably so!

While we’re on the topic, what are your takes on ‘TikTok investing’?

Karim: There are two sides to it. On the one hand, you’re getting people more engaged in what the markets are, how to invest and financial tips and are these are great. Things like financial advice previously might have been confined to the few and platforms like TikTok have opened it up to the masses. On the flip side, I think people need to be careful. A lot of the financial ‘advice’ isn’t advice and that’s something you need to filter out on your own. 

Bertie: I think Karim’s right, it definitely makes advice more accessible, but because TikTok appeals to a much younger audience, it’s quite dangerous for younger people to be watching this content and throwing their student loan away on things they’ve done little research on just because it’s a trend. Another thought is that are the most popular people powerful enough to have a real difference and move markets?

Do you think the next Warren Buffet will have started on TikTok?

Karim: They started on WallStreetBets, Cormack!

So to confirm, is there any place for a crossover between TikTok and investing?

Karim: I think there’s a place for anything in the current markets and we can’t discount anything too quickly. We’re seeing all these figures in pop culture becoming market movers in themselves buying into crypto or meme stocks. 

Following this Sustainable Investment competition, team Renergetic is all looking forward to the next stage of their respective lives. Karim has begun his career in investment banking, Max in asset management, and Bertie in M&A. Read the full story of Karim, Bertie & Max.

Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash

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Team Renergetic competed in this new competition whose aim was to discover promising clean energy investments across the world. Dhiraj Mukherjee, co-founder of Shazam, was the competition sponsor who provided the prizes and corralled top judges with experience at Google, Fidelity, TechStars, Virgin, and within VC.

10 teams of graduate & undergraduate students across the globe researched the brightest investment opportunities in everything from solar and wind, to geothermal and lithium. What could go wrong?

Team Renergetic – who went on to win – detailed their rocky road to success. 

The Wize Wizzard of Barclays

In truth, the next Warren Buffett most probably did not start on Tiktok or WallStreetBets, and neither did Team Renergetic, Karim, Bertie, and Max. Despite being MSc students at the London School of Economics, they quickly found that their journey to winning would not be so smooth. The whole team felt they had experience in investing and hence knew more or less what to look for in potential investments. But not for long. Max felt this confidence was unravelled in the space of a 10-minute call with their finance professor, a former highly regarded stock picker for Barclays Capital and a wise-yet-elusive Gandalf-like character.

They spent the following hour discussing why their entire approach was simply wrong. In short, they realised they had not been asking the right questions. The question they should be asking was not what information, but where was good information. Subsequently, they refocussed away from generic and complex analyst reports, and instead dialled in on personal blogs from famous expert investors and well-recognised analysts with the aim of reducing noise in their approach. In essence, team Renergetic embraced the fact that they did not know what the answer might look like but had an idea of where to find it. 

Until this point, solar seemed the way to go. In fact, during the initial catch-up with the teams, Karim made a two-minute speech about why the team found solar energy so fascinating. Finally, halfway-way through the competition, with their professor’s nagging questions still lingering in their mind, their final proposal blossomed. Solar was so last week, now was the time for floating offshore wind. 

The reason for the pivot was that Team Renergetic felt one of the most important aspects of the Sustainable Investment challenge was to provide interesting opportunities. Bertie felt that wind would be much more conducive to the task remit, as wind has investment opportunities such as floating offshore wind and wind-to-hydrogen. These are becoming more attractive in the investment landscape given their potential for solving large-scale issues that other renewables have failed to address, for example, energy storage. Karim also suggested that to create an interesting investment proposition, they must look beyond the mundane, surface-level stocks. Instead of looking at the owners of the wind farms, look at the companies further upstream in the supply chain. The reasoning led the team to research and recommend companies such as TPI Composites, a leading wind blade manufacturer with a global footprint.

Burning the Midnight Oil… (Or Spinning the Midnight Turbine)?

Just as things were improving, they got worse. Bertie’s computer stopped working for the remaining two weeks of the competition, and so all his research, analysis and concurrent university projects had to be undertaken on a tablet…Thank God it was an iPad! (This article is in no way sponsored by Apple inc., unfortunately).

The proposal was submitted at 4 am the night of the deadline, and it landed them a place in the final round. They’d worked through the night, still juggling their degree work and a mounting pile of laundry. Would they make a good impression? Impressing judges with combined experience at Google, Virgin, TechStars & Fidelity, wasn’t going to be easy. They only had a 10-minute elevator pitch to get the judges onside. Would their investments impress? Would the iPad presentation look professional? Would being stopped mid-sentence as they ran out of time jeopardise their chances? In the end, the judges were unanimous, the team’s detailed research and charisma shone through. Renergetic were the undisputed winners of the competition. They won a cash prize personally as well as an equally-sized donation to the Aga Khan Development Fund.

Dhiraj was now, in his own words ‘a million times smarter’, and the team had found an intriguing opportunity to productively procrastinate university work for 4 weeks. They had learnt how to ask the right questions when it comes to picking investments, a good reminder that there’s more to investing than following trends on WallStreetBets. Following this Sustainable Investment competition, team Renergetic are all looking forward to the next stage of their respective lives. Karim has begun his career in investment banking, Max in asset management, and Bertie in M&A. Rumour has it, their TikTok investing accounts are still in the pipeline…

Photo by Nicholas Doherty on Unsplash

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The Sustainable Investment Challenge 2021 was designed to find the next generation of renewable investment opportunities. Dhiraj Mukherjee, the co-founder of Shazam, was the competition sponsor who provided the prizes and corralled top judges with experience at Google, Fidelity, TechStars, Virgin, and within VC.

This is the story of how Team Gaveston – Jacob, an engineering student at the University of Southampton, and Philip, a natural sciences student at Durham – went from flailing STEM students to soaring stock pickers. They found the competition on Facebook and thought it would make learning finance fun. They didn’t anticipate winning second place and receiving a prize created just for them.

A motley crew

From the beginning, Jacob and Philip made it clear that they felt wildly out of their depth. At the first catchup call – with almost everyone present – the alarm bells started ringing. Before they could even speak, there was trouble. Jacob’s camera refused to work, and Philip’s looked like a monochrome camera from the 50’s. Ten minutes into the call, Philip’s opening gambit was “Sorry, I’ve just joined, I’m not sure what I’m meant to be saying.” He seemed dazed, confused, and like a man recovering from a night of Red Bull & coffee. In hindsight he was clearly method acting, preparing for his imminent ascendance to financial-analyst greatness. But at the time, like a caterpillar and butterfly, the dazed sepia-washed Philip gave no indication of the brilliance to come. The team lacked synergy in answering questions, they were confused about which (if either) were qualified to speak, and it wasn’t entirely clear they understood the questions they were asking. But it was clear they were on the back foot.

However, unbeknownst to everyone else, Team Gaveston, sitting quietly in the corner with their broken webcams and 1950’s footage, had a silent confidence. There were aces up their sleeves. They chose geothermal energy to research, carefully picked due to its latent potential and close alignment with their own STEM degrees. Jacob studies in the city with the oldest geothermal plant in the UK and Philip’s university has a leading research group entirely focussed on geothermal energy. The team immersed themselves within this network. Jacob was able to reach out to council members associated with the geothermal plant. Philip drew heavily on his professors, gaining access to niche insight. As knowledge compounded, their disadvantage shrunk. The only catch – when the professors caught wind that this research was for an investment competition, they quickly started to peddle their own companies, and Jacob and Philip had to take any information with a fistful of salt.

Not ones to get complacent, Jacob and Philip eyed up their next hurdle. They needed to learn the finance. Like all aspiring investors, Investopedia came to their aid. Poring over hundreds of articles and tutorials, Team Gaveston sharpened their financial acumen, building a working foundation. But how could they speak the language of money? A JP Morgan internship wasn’t on the cards just yet, their next best bet? Reviewing dozens of hours of the UCLA stock picking competition on YouTube. This provided direction in what to look for in a stock pick. It also allowed them to develop a financial vernacular by following how budding investors discussed financial instruments and assets. Lastly, it allowed them to develop confidence that they were going about their research in the right way.

The most impressive aspect of Team Gaveston’s approach was yet to come. They reached out to representatives of every company they researched. They gained access to confidential insights and data with permission to use in their exclusive report. They quickly learned the USPs of each company, leading to even deeper investigation and analysis. They even found a back door into a Series B funding round, after speaking with the CEO of Dandelion Energy, a New York based geothermal company.

Played for fools

In hindsight anyone who had doubted them were played for fools. The confused exterior, blurred through broken webcams, was a mask for sharp intellect, tenacity, and immense creativity. Like an advert for not judging a book by its cover, their report shone through, winning the first round and securing them a place in the live judging stage. On April 8th 2021, confronted with judges from Google, Fidelity, TechStars, Virgin, Bloomberg, and Venture Capital, Gaveston 2.0 arrived. No longer just STEM students, but armed with financial acumen and a confidence forged in hours of UCLA Stock Picking footage, two matured, thoughtful, and analytical finance bros emerged. Their suits were sharp, their presentation was detailed, and their efforts…. not quite enough. In a heart-breaking twist to a fairy-tale story, they were voted top by one judge but on average, second. Their proposal wasn’t diversified enough, and their delivery surpassed by the competition’s equally well researched and polished winners, Team Renergetic.

Philip said if he could do it all over, he would have wanted to talk more about the “dead-ends” in his research and about why there was a distinct lack of diversification in their portfolio. Jacob, witty as ever, noted that if the only qualm Philip had was that he would have liked to talk more about what they had done, the competition must have been a success! They felt content with second place. But Dhiraj had other plans. He felt their work surpassed expectations and deserved recognition. He decided to give them a reward: cash to them and cash to their favourite charity. And there was another pressing matter. Dhiraj wanted to make the Dandelion investment they’d researched. This was a unique opportunity to access an otherwise exclusive round – but he only had six days left, and he’d need them to power up their contacts with Dandelion.

A hectic weekend of emails followed and Dhiraj secured his spot. In mid-2021 Dhiraj invested in Dandelion’s series B, becoming a co-investor with Bill Gates and Google Ventures, all through the remarkable work of two spotty teenagers. Proof in the pudding, the power of young people was real. Jacob and Philip were amazed, their research validated, their efforts rewarded.

In the future, Philip will be looking forward to learning more about the asset management space, and Jacob will be looking into AI applications within finance. Dhiraj, no doubt, will be keeping a close eye on both of them.

Team Gaveston

Jacob: It was really surprising, and I didn’t know what to think. I felt that things we learned just from taking part and the fantastic insights offered at the feedback stage were already enough of an award, but to be called, and he wanted to recognise our efforts with another reward, it was great.

Phil: And when he told us he wanted to follow up on one of the stocks we researched, Dandelion, it was great validation.

Jacob: I’m really grateful to Dhiraj and Cormack, because one thing I haven’t experienced in other competitions is the level of personal care, especially from two very busy people. The amount of personal contact we’ve had with both of them is so refreshing and not something I’ve seen before. I feel like they care about me more than my… actually, I shouldn’t say that.

Co-authored by: Mitul Satra, Competition Lead at London School of Economics Entrepreneurs Society & Cormack Jackson, Chief of Staff to Dhiraj Mukherjee.

Photo by Nicolasintravel on Unsplash

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In April 2021, Shazam Cofounder Dhiraj Mukherjee made 10 investments across 5 asset classes in 3 domains of renewable energy, becoming a co-investor with Bill Gates and Google Ventures on paper, entirely as a result of research papers drawn up by ambitious, talented university students in less than a month. 

The seeds were sown in January as Dhiraj, forever the entrepreneur, saw an opportunity in a crowded market. Dhiraj was reflecting on the vast potential amongst young people, often untapped owing to their perennial ‘lack of experience.’ The solution would be to run a research competition for impact investments focused on novel renewable technologies, a space which would bring out the best in insightful youth. The Sustainable Investment Challenge 2021 was born. 

This worked for several reasons. Firstly, entry was indiscriminate. Students of all disciplines, geographies and backgrounds were welcomed. The competition started at LSE but reached as far as Canada and Singapore. Secondly, this aligned with Dhiraj’s own interests of ‘Tech for Good’ investing. Lastly, the renewables space has received unprecedented attention since the start of the pandemic (for good reason!). For our 10 teams, the gap between young talent and industry professionals would be bridged at last. For Dhiraj the alure of future capital gains paying off his children’s school fees was irresistible. 

The partnership with LSE SU Entrepreneurs Society originated from fortunate stokes of serendipity. Cormack, an LSE Sociology alumni, had invited Dhiraj to talk as part of the society’s newly established ‘Talks’ venture, back in 2018. Dhiraj was treated like a celebrity, and apparently Cormack was to blame. There relationship blossomed from there. Following this event, Cormack habitually badgered Dhiraj to such a degree that to stop him asking for favours, Dhiraj employed Cormack as his Chief of Staff to nurture this prodigious talent but also in part to silence those 21 remaining questions. Thus, when Dhiraj and Cormack were suggesting channels through which to distribute word of this competition, LSE Entrepreneurs Society was the undeniable choice. Cormack reached out with the idea in mind, planning for Dhiraj’s comeback tour to commence. 

The competition structure was typical of most investing competitions, but with a somewhat more personal and social feel. Small teams of 1-3 members worked towards creating a research proposal with a portfolio of investments in a chosen sector, and there were three drop-in sessions for each of the teams between starting and submission to allow for any informal clarifications. This turned out to be extremely well-received, with one team member commenting “With all the check-in sessions I felt as though Dhiraj and Cormack care about me more than my own …”. We hope he was talking about his academic tutor and not his parents. The competition went global. We had participants from universities including LSE in London, Durham, Southampton, Cambridge, Queen’s in Canada, National University of Singapore, and many others. 

After the proposals had been sent in and evaluated, the top teams pitched to a panel of five of Dhiraj’s well-established professional friends. With a wealth of experience at Google, Fidelity, TechStars, Virgin and within Venture Capital. We thank Max Kelly, Thomas Schreiber, Nikita Thakrar, Aturas Rtiscev and Christine Brueshke for joining us in this journey. We must also congratulate our finalists, namely teams SIF, Gaveston, Renergetic and Maple Energy, for their impeccable research reports. Team Makan also earned an honourable mention. 

Although everything seemed to go according to plan, there were some notable roadblocks. Dhiraj’s opening presentation was no exception. Dhiraj was in India at the time and hence we were worried about his connection when speaking. With forethought he provided a video to play which would summarise everything effectively. I, the LSE Entrepreneurs representative, would simply have to play the video from his end and attendees would be able to watch and listen to the video; of course, this was all rehearsed. Unfortunately, it emerged through the chat that many attendees could not hear any audio. Settings were changed frantically but the outcome remained the same. Thankfully, you can always count on Cormack to have a plan C for his plan B, and he was able to show the video through his screen. The real irony through this was that whilst Cormack loaded the video to be played, Dhiraj was filling in the silence by answering audience questions, and not once did his audio cut out. Indeed, the presentation could have been done live after all. Of course, it would not be a Zoom event without such glitches.

The Final Showdown!

For the finals, the Zoom call was filled to the brim will talent. Owing to time constraints, contestants who breached the ten-minute time limit on presentations were faced with only the most serious punishment – they were muted mid-sentence. Horrified teammates looked on in disbelief as Cormack, a man with such a friendly exterior could and would implement such a medieval measure. Incidentally, Dhiraj revealed that he had met his wife speed dating and wanted the finals to run in a similar manner. This was met with confused laughter as we processed the remark, realising this was not a cheap pass intended at the finalists but a rather nostalgic notion.

The finals turned out to be an excellent showcase of talent. Team Maple Energy gave a professional presentation on opportunities within the onshore solar sector whereas Team SIF gave an intriguing presentation on floating offshore solar. Team Renergetic impressed with a detailed look at the offshore wind sector, and Team Gaveston finished with a thoughtful overview of the Geothermal sector. As the judge’s enthusiasm grew, Dhiraj too had to dance on the edge of medievalism, finding elegant ways to cut off his friends mid-sentence. Eventually he was able to coral his fellow judges to a decision.  

The judges voted Team Renergetic the winner after much deliberation for their meticulous analysis of floating offshore wind (who knew wind turbines could float!). Team Gaveston were impressive to the extent that Dhiraj gave them a cash prize too and matched each cash prize with a charitable contribution of the team’s choice. The charities chosen were the Aga Khan Development Fund and the Environmental Justice Foundation. Rumour has it that due to the recruitment drive to Dhiraj Mukherjee Creations from this competition, there was a huge shortage of summer interns in Goldman Sachs’ London Office. 

This competition has reminded us that by creating a platform where young people can work together to present their research findings, there can be some real, tangible, and fresh outcomes. It was interesting to see the personal growth throughout the process and the notable moments through our journey. 

In summary, we set out to empower young people and reach out to as many students as possible. We wanted them to have an opportunity to showcase their skills and insights in order to be able to demonstrate their ability to a wider platform. We were delighted with the quality of the responses, and we learnt that young people can provide unique and incisive perspectives if given a voice. We plan to be back in 2022. 

Written by Mitul Satra Competition Lead at London School of Economics Entrepreneur Society. 

Image credits: Angelica Equihua & Erin Clarke

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MeVitae uses sophisticated algorithms to support recruiters in matching the best candidates to the right role, rather than being a victim of our brain’s inherent limitations and biases. It is both a privilege to serve on MeVitae’s board, as well as a learning experience to see leading-edge technology deployed to build fairer, and more effective hiring processes.

This article is based on an interview with Riham led by Cormack Jackson, where she explains the term Augmented Intelligence and how to tackle unconscious bias.

Augmented Intelligence (AI) in recruitment

Augmented Intelligence is the marriage of humans and machines, ideally, working together in an optimal way. This isn’t just brain implants, you and your mobile phone are a form of augmented intelligence. Riham’s company MeVitae, aims not to replace humans, but to give employees and  recruiters more time to do what they actually love, sitting down with candidates, and understanding them as people. 

MeVitae’s Augmented Intelligence, focuses on the talent acquisition stage of the recruitment process. “We try to remove unconscious and algorithmic bias in this early stage. Machines will scout the web for top talent, we come in at that point, where companies receive a CV through their Application Tracking Systems (ATS). These thousands of applications need to be boiled down to a top 10. We have to determine, quickly and at scale, if someone is a good cultural fit, using their CV, and available web data on them and the company.”

MeVitae have spent years exploring the science of HR, from neuroimaging to data extraction. They have analysed over 20 million job descriptions, 10 billion data points, and 100,000 CVs to identify over 120,000 specific skills. 

“Using our natural language processing and the 10 billion data points, we will come up with what we call a score or rank that will tell us how suitable that person is based on job requirements, and specifications of the company. This is also based on past hiring data that an organisation has. I.e. who was hired, was it successful was it not, etc. An important point is that we’re not learning the biases an organisation has, we’re learning what key skills they’ve hired for in the past, what preferences do they have that aren’t attributed to bias.”

Companies then see a duplicate version of the CV, where everything that could result in a bias is redacted. Literally blacked out. This could be name, age, gender, even university. Simultaneously MeVitae generates a heat map, which physically guides recruiters to the relevant information on a CV. “This is a key component of the Augmented Intelligence, through machine intelligence we are trying to nudge the way recruiters experience CV’s in a way that it more, key skills focussed.”

Where are those eyes looking? 

Riham’s team also developed heat maps of where recruiters’ eyes normally look on a CV. “I think we put people in awkward positions which we usually do, we took some recruiters and we put them in this kind of headset and eye tracking device.”

“Our experiment showed that recruiters primarily focus on the name of the candidate, and previous job titles. This is problematic because job titles are becoming increasingly more arbitrary, and often mean something completely different across different places. Even, ‘data scientist’ at one organisation, is not the same as data scientist at another.” This is only compounded by the archaic way in which CV’s are laid out. “The name of the candidate [the most irrelevant bit regarding their ability to do the job] is smack bam at the top. So of course the first thing you read is the name.”

Human bias is impossible to avoid, it creeps into everything. Who is on the job panel, the way a job description is written, all impact who applies and who is selected. 

“Currently there is no quick way to remove a neurological bias, so the goal is to postpone it as long as possible.”

To enable candidates to get as far into the recruitment process as possible, before they are screened out by any kind of bias. This is partially relevant, because MeVitae discovered that “60% of recruitment biases lie in that shortlisting process. It’s not even the face to face interviews where the majority of it creeps in. it’s when you first see the applicant on paper.”

Culture isn’t just brodowns and beanbags. 

“The standard critique of this, is that all these factors, like someone’s university, their age etc. are essential for determining cultural fit. We disagree. Culture is often made up of a candidates mindset and the way they approach problems and their colleagues. These are traits like: Curiosity, trust, and a willingness to push boundaries. These are very different from protected characteristic traits such as male or female, age etc.”

“So we ask companies to provide us with profiles of what they think top success looks like in their company, and from this we extract the key underlying traits, that compose that success, independent of those protected characteristics. So from these individuals LinkedIn, CV, and any other data the company can provide, we’ll try and determine, what does success look like in this company. What are the underlying factors determining success in this culture.”

• Is it that they are loyal to an organisation?
• Is it that they tend not to job hop?
• That they have had a logical career progression, or perhaps it’s because they’ve had an unusual career progression? 

“It’s what we can actually quantify and commensurate, and that’s what we will use to determine cultural fit. Not ethnic background, age, gender or so on.”

Currently MeVitae boast a 70% cost saving, 60% time saving, and 30% increase in gender diversity, as a result of their augmented intelligence approach to recruiting. 

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I told God about my plans earlier this year and he had a good laugh and cancelled my holidays, made me an improvised teacher to my three shell-shocked kids, gave me a bad gin & tonic habit, and stuck me at home with a lockdown puppy, none of which was in my plans.

Growing up in India, my family valued education over everything else. My undergraduate degree was in Mathematical Economics, and I ended up at Stanford Business School in California just when the internet boom was starting in 1995. The future was uncertain, but the optimism in Silicon Valley was almost palpable as entrepreneurs dived in to seize the opportunities created by this new technology.

I remember one of my professors told us that analysing facts and data would matter most early in our careers, but over time we would need to rely more on our instincts and judgement, and make decisions with incomplete information. In effect, we would need to set aside our training, and the tools we had been trained with, and adopt a different mindset. 

In my experience, it is human nature to want to know, to understand and to predict. To look into the future and anticipate how the world will change, and our place in it. Even though that desire is constantly tested by the vagaries of real life, we cling to that desire. And then God comes along and laughs at our plans, and we realise that now is the time to change our mindset.

William Goldman was an Academy Award-winning screenwriter who is immortalised by the opening line of his iconic book about Hollywood: “Nobody knows anything.” Writers, directors, producers, studios – everybody wants to make a hit, but Goldman stated what they thought deep at heart: at best, everyone is making an educated guess.

“Nobody knows anything” is not a conventional belief system. Rene Descartes was a French mathematician who is best known as a modern philosopher: “I think, therefore I am.” The Scientific Revolution created the belief system that we know, we can know, we should know. The other option is the belief system that we don’t know, we’ll never fully know, and we are better off accepting that truth.

Although I am neither a screenwriter nor a philosopher, in my career I have seen the world of software development change its belief system from “we know” to “we don’t know.” In 1997 when I jumped into technology, software was developed using the waterfall method: business users wrote the requirements and software engineers created the code.

This approach almost always led to delays, recrimination and cost over-runs. The reason was the business users faced with a blank piece of paper didn’t really know what they wanted, and engineers didn’t really know how software would turn out until they tried. 

Then, about twenty years ago, an enlightened group of engineers decided that enough was enough. Rather than presuming that business users were clairvoyants who could spell out exactly what the world needed, they realised that it was much better to build software through an ongoing dialogue and a series of refinements. The approach is called the Agile method, which today is the conventional way to build new digital products.

My experience leading an Agile software development team taught me how to make decisions without full visibility of the end result. We were comfortable going on a journey without knowing the exact destination.  Our belief system was “we don’t know, but we will adapt as we go.”

The language of startups is now entered the jargon at many firms today “Launch and learn!” senior management might say. “Let’s iterate to the solution, and pivot if we need to.” The Agile way of thinking acknowledges that we don’t have all the answers at the start. 

In many businesses however, I still see many companies clinging to the old belief system – we need to know! What is the plan, where are the forecasts, what is going to happen next year? And at that, I fear God has a good laugh….

The Secret for a Hit?

Hollywood is well known for being a hit-driven industry, and everyone wants to create a hit. However, not only creative industries have hits and misses – we see it in iconic cars like the Mustang, blockbuster games like Fortnite, or even in products such as the Peloton bike. Today’s household names all started as ideas which no one knew for sure would be lead to success.

It gradually dawned on me that the central idea of the Agile method is true in business as well as software: the future is unknown, and the formula for creating a hit is a well-kept secret. 

Rather than working on long-term plans, I switched my team to working in two-week “sprints.”  We planned a burst of activity for two weeks, after which we stopped to assess progress, prioritise the work which would most reduce uncertainty, plan the next two weeks and start the next sprint. 

The beauty of the Agile method is to create clarity by producing small chunks of work which can be tested in the real world, while at the same time embracing the uncertainty of the final outcome. 

Using this approach, we gave ourselves license to be more adaptable, more creative and more responsive to customer needs and market conditions. And as a belief system, I found that “we don’t know” was much more powerful than “we must know.”

One of my favourite business authors Tim Ferriss, who wrote the seminal book “The Four Hour Workweek.” Tim says that learning is like driving at night in the fog – you can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.  The sprints were like headlights – we could see that far ahead, and then we would look again to see where to go next.

Imperial College, one of the finest universities in the UK hosts a fascinating technology foresight event which looks at the future of technology over the next 20 years. One of the speakers I heard put it brilliantly: “the only thing that is certain in our lives, besides death and taxes, is uncertainty.”

Fast forward to 2021. We are absolutely sure it is going to be an unpredictable year, just like every other year. This is not the right time to look for answers, but to ask better questions.  In practical terms for business leaders, that means looking for the unknowns, not the knowns. The more one reflects on unknowns, the more it focuses one’s attention away from the traps of false knowledge, misplaced confidence and outdated assumptions.

Secondly, next year (and every year) is a good time to think, learn and analyse differently. How do animals adapt when their environment changes? How are other countries tackling unexpected events? How are other industries responding to changes we are seeing in the world? By opening our minds to new ideas and possibilities, new opportunities take shape more clearly. A simple way to do this is by reading different publications, speaking to different experts, attending different conferences, and connecting with different stakeholders.

Finally, this is the time to organise around “adaptable,” not around “predictable.” That means a corporate culture which thrives on change rather than waiting for a “new normal.” It means attracting leaders and employees who are comfortable with a dynamic, evolving workplace. It means organisational structures which are constructed to be temporary, not permanent. It means financial and operating plans specifically designed for flexibility, rather than annual plans and milestones built on weak assumptions. It means a strategy based on asking “what if?” rather than playing to strengths which may no longer exist.

The more experienced I get, the more I understand my business school professor’s insight. Knowledge is not the key to success, but by understanding the limitations of our knowledge gives us better judgement. “Designing for Uncertainty” is a mindset which should serve us well in 2021 and perhaps beyond that as well.

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Augmented through technology, this new context is blurring what it means to be alone and together. ‘Silent calls’ are a good example.  When working or studying, people are phoning friends merely to appreciate the background noise, filling the gap left by missing co-workers. This comes with the added bonus of choosing who you are sitting “next to” and can have a casual word with at the right moment. 

Ironically, by being physically confined we have been freed from our usual geographical restrictions. Earlier this year to celebrate Shazam’s twentieth birthday, I planned a virtual party with former colleagues spanning from Singapore to San Francisco, an idea which would never have occurred to me pre-lockdown.  

Technology, a gateway to higher trust?

As we ‘go out’ less, the party is being ‘brought in’ more.  Colleagues and friends are routinely being invited into our kitchens, living rooms and even our bedrooms…We’ve all jumped out of bed to make that 8 am zoom.  In subtle ways, this change in communication dynamics alters what is possible by offering a gateway to higher levels of trust. This leads to better business.  If we become more comfortable letting people into intimate aspects of our lives and taking off the masks we wear externally, we will become more authentic, more genuine, and arguably more human.  In doing so, we also become more creative, since the crux of innovation is often about approaching a situation with a new perspective.

A bit like a foxes’ wedding (when the sun shines while it rains), it feels like we are living the new and the old simultaneously. We are adapting to virtual guitar lessons, games of online Scrabble with elderly parents, or jumping on a Zoom call with friends while watching a football match played in an empty stadium.  At the same time, we are appreciating the sunlight through the trees on a Tuesday morning, our neighbour’s cheery smile from across the street, or the sound of an old friend’s voice on the phone after many years. Once this pandemic passes, I hope we can savour both what is timelessly important to us from the past and how technology will undoubtedly enrich our future.

Check out Part 2: For a discussion on music technology and it’s ability to heal.

^1.Institute of Philosophy: University of London’s School of Advanced Studies

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Earlier this Spring, a rap artist called Swae Lee created the first ever Instagram live concert. This was complete with fake crowd surfing, a fan jumping on stage virtually, and an audience of 250,000 globally. More recently, a musician turned entrepreneur called Tim Exile launched Endlesss, a new collaborative music creation application (disclosure: I am an early investor).  Tim’s mission is to democratise music production, encouraging those who may not have access to expensive equipment or years of training to find musical expression and creativity. Endlesss effectively connects high-level musical collaboration and game-style entertainment which has gained fantastic traction, perhaps because it launched in the middle of a pandemic.

Music brings us together.

Recently I commissioned an original piece of music for a video i produced. The artist I hired is passionate about music, with many years of experience, but this was his first professional composition.  By trade he is a builder, but with his normal job on hold he turned his hobby into paid work. I hear similar stories from other creatives who are now turning their passion into paid work, and I hope that his career as a musician continues to build from this point.

Music captures our longing for togetherness, and I think this brings great comfort in times when we fear that the life which we know may be collapsing. One of the most Shazamed songs this year is Blinding Lights by The Weeknd whose opening lines are:

“Yeah

I been tryna call
I been on my own for long enough
Maybe you can show me how to love, maybe
I’m going through withdrawals…”

Rather than staying apart as we must, we are constantly seeking to connect.  This is a unique opportunity to ask ourselves: what is truly important and what do we really need?  Who matters to us and what are the problems we want to try and solve? Whilst we are physically apart yet together through technology, let’s use it to see the best in those around us, our family, and especially our own selves.

Check out Part 1 of Technology & Pandemic.

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What is Gen Z? The ‘Miracle Generation’? The answer to all of your problems? Of course, this is not entirely true. A generation is – unsurprisingly – a lot of people, so we can’t expect them all to behave exactly the same. However, historical events, cultural and technological shifts, do tend to happen in unison for large swathes of populations, and these do leave clues. These clues would suggest that Gen Z are something to get excited about.

We know there is this great resource to tap into – It’s called Generation Z – but we don’t know how to do it. Until now. 

From a socio-economic perspective, Gen Z came of age during the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath. Experiencing parents lose jobs, exposed them to uncertainty and resilience during their formative years. Something they may need right now. As such, they are keen to keep ahead, and to keep ready. Many of them had to grow up quickly, with a parental message that emphasised responsibility and hard work, rather than entitlement.

Developing this adult dialogue with their parents at a young age, is what gives them greater influence over household expenditure today. It also promotes efficacy, and self-determination, both key traits of a young entrepreneur. And having grown up in the ‘Google’ age, where solutions and skills are one YouTube video away, entrepreneurialism is not something they are shy of. We discussed this more in Part 1 of our series.

Similarly, younger members have grown up in a time where traditional social norms are being torn down. The disruption of binary sexual identities is just one example. Concepts of gender fluidity have been framed by many commentators, as Marxist university conspiracies, but ironically, the result is the complete opposite and far more interesting. Instead, it’s symptomatic of a generation who take nothing for granted, nothing is set in stone, and everything is up for negotiation. Concepts, institutions, ideas – from banking to sex & gender – are all fair game in being torn down, and rebuilt. We are essentially raising a generation to not accept the status-quo, no matter how fundamental it seems. This disruption may be chaotic, but it is the mother of all innovation.

How do you take advantage of this?

As Consumers

a) Sell self-development, not just a lifestyle. Your product isn’t just about making their life easier, it’s about making them more effective.

b) Appealing to highly sexualised archetypes of binary gender norms, is a dwindling enterprise. I.e. Unrealistically beautified women and ridiculously shredded men – all covered in perfume and loosely fitting flannel shirts are probably not going to be taken seriously by Generation Z. 

c) Think visual, images not words, and every second counts. Vine, Tiktok, Insta Stories etc. have catered to an attention span that requires immediate gratification. Ask yourself, what are the first 8 seconds of your content achieving? If you want them to watch the remaining 52 seconds, this is where the battle is won or lost.

As Employees

a) To motivate Gen Z, focus on what they can learn, not just what they can earn. They perceive themselves as a business. Therefore, long term investment in themselves, is just as important as immediate financial gain. 

b) Mentorship is a powerful currency that can go a long way. This is more than just professional and personal development, it’s about feeling valued. This doesn’t mean, long personal development plans, simply noticing when someones put that extra effort in, and thanking them is enough. It’s become abundantly clear, that Gen Z’s who are praised for hard work, are more than happy to double down on efforts again next time.

c) Don’t be surprised if you find yourself learning something too. Reverse mentorship, is something to be welcomed. It’s not like market research, where you ask ‘x’ young people about ‘y’ topics. It’s about listening out for the unexpected insight, from a perspective that isn’t your own.

d) Understand and be transparent about how your business can have a positive  impact. This sense of purpose is no longer a joke, it’s an essential driver for Generation Z. 

Moral of the Story

As the world temporarily locks down, no doubt the younger members of Gen Z will cause some chaos. I’ve heard some have already tried to break back into school… but they may also be a source of optimism. Many of them are inherently adaptable, and all of them are digital natives, they could be key in helping parents build this new virtual stay at home economy. Older members who have already left home will have their resilience and creativity tested. But diamonds are made under pressure, so I’m sure they will rise to the challenge!

Extract edited from speech by Cormack Jackson at Tech UK. Delivered to an audience of Small and medium-sized enterprises.

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The way in which today’s youth, consume technology and culture, gives an over the horizon perspective of what the future might hold. Generation Z now take up over 25% of the global population, and will soon have the largest generational spending power accounting for their influence over household purchases. So this is a future that is rapidly approaching. 

Young people have always been a disruptive and innovative force in society. MIT research indicates that creativity may even peak as early as mid 20’s (although, i hope not). What makes this particular generation so special, is that the unique context and tools that they have grown up with, amplify this innate ability.  

Generation Z are the first to grow up without any memory of life before the internet, life before social media, and some barely remember life before smart phones. This ubiquity of information means, whenever they’ve had a problem they’ve always had the solution accessible freely & instantly online. Need to learn a new skill? Watch a YouTube tutorial. Need to try a new restaurant, or compare challenger banks? Google it, or just ask Siri! What this means, is that while it’s much easier for everyone to be entrepreneurial today, for Gen Z, being entrepreneurial has always been the easier route.

They can be incredibly resourceful, because since day 0 the internet has enabled them to tackle the issues they care about entrepreneurially, with peers across the globe. The usual suspects of applications, Tiktok, Instagram, etc. have engendered an entire generation of content creators, producing content in seconds, broadcasting it globally, and not even blinking. They have been downloading information, assessing, and collaborating at a scale no other generation could at their age. It’s this ability to rapidly combine old things in new ways, that literally defines innovation.

How do you take advantage of this?

As Employees

a) Don’t assume it’s too expensive because you need to hire an outside agency, set an intern loose on the problem. They are a blank slate, so this creativity is there to be harnessed. Rather than drilling into them existing ways of doing things, give them space to look at your systems and problems differently. This is especially powerful when it’s unclear what the solution might look like. 

b) They have grown up with today’s emerging technologies, Smart Assistants, AR, VR, and AI etc. Try and create opportunities where they can experiment with technologies inside and outside of your business. 

As Consumers

a) Help them be part of the solution. Give them a reason to buy other than, that your product is just better, or cheaper. How does this choice make them a better person? How does it help them make an impact? We’ve heard of the ‘experience economy,’ what about the ‘impact economy.’

b) Celebrity endorsement is often seen as out of touch, focus on specific groups you can reach in a personal way. Influencers are an obvious choice, but micro-influencers and smaller youtubers can be even better – These function more like peer recommendation, rather than celebrity influence. Likewise, there has never been a better time to recruit student brand ambassadors.

Moral of the story? Generation Z. Available in all good retailers, and coming to a workplace near you today! Part 2

Extract edited from speech by Cormack Jackson at Tech UK. Delivered to an audience of Small and medium-sized enterprises.

Photo Credits: Eddie Palmore on Unsplash

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