Research and history agree that the most impactful startups come from entrepreneurs riding the waves of change (regardless of whether the entrepreneur realises it).
Digital health and aged care solutions for the aging population - Healthcare and aged care startups focused on leveraging technology to improve quality of care and support independent living. Best suited for startups with healthcare and technology expertise. @leigh.s@Allister
Climate adaptation technologies - Startups developing innovations to help communities, businesses and infrastructure adapt and become more resilient to climate change impacts. Ideal for startups with expertise in climate science, engineering and sustainability. @liltauri
Training and reskilling platforms - Online education and training platforms to help workers reskill and upskill for the jobs and economy of the future. Well-suited to edtech startups.
Decarbonization technologies - Startups commercializing new technologies to reduce carbon emissions and enable the transition to net zero across transport, energy, manufacturing etc. Ideal for cleantech startups.
Carbon capture and sequestration - Startups focused on carbon capture, utilization and storage to help mitigate climate change. Requires expertise in chemistry, engineering and geoscience.
Critical minerals and metals processing - Startups able to extract, process and purify critical minerals and rare earth metals essential for renewable energy, EVs, electronics etc. Needs mining and materials science expertise.
Agtech for climate resilience - Agtech startups using technologies like AI, robotics, genetics and sensors to improve agricultural resilience, productivity and sustainability. Best for startups with deep agtech capabilities.
Future of work platforms - Startups offering new models, marketplaces and platforms to support the changing nature of work and employment. Well-suited to startups focused on the future of work.
Smart city solutions - Startups using sensors, IoT, AI and other technologies to make cities smarter, more efficient and sustainable. Requires expertise in urban planning, technology and sustainability. @emily@bruce
Cybersecurity for digital economy - Cybersecurity startups protecting businesses and infrastructure as more economic activity moves online. Ideal for startups with expertise in cybersecurity and emerging technologies.
We really do need to stop thinking in terms of “being in debt”.
I find this scoping extremely frustrating; we will not be in any more financial debt, at a sovereign level, than than we are now. Money is “a made up concept” to account for claims on capital and to transact in the economy. That’s it. The real question to ask is “upon whom will the burden for managing these inter-generational imacts fall?” and “from where will the real resources required to do this be sourced to meet these challenges”? One should also ask “how can we reduce the per-capital need for finite resources as rapidly as we can?”
It’s an inter-generational report and my takeaway, not explicitly stated, is that if we don’t think radically differently in terms of these questions, and deconstruct the self-centred, private property focused, market solves everything, neoliberal economic model that we suffer under now and which got us here in the first place, and rapidly transition to a new, inclusive and sustainable alternative, future generations will be paying dearly for the sins of our own. Baby Boomers (yeah, that includes me, just) are, by all financial measures and especially their claim on the nation’s assets and wealth, the “robber barons” of our age.
The solution?
Rational analysis, technological competence and philosophical guidance to develop well curated, democratically inspired, biosphere and ecosystem aware, entrepreneurial action, at scale, with the allocation of the necessary (financial and other) resources to be provided by those in our society who have benefited the most (often unreasonably so) from the (flawed) system that produced these outcomes in the first place.
Too few people understand this point. Worrying about how much monopoly money debt a country may be in is a misplaced concern, that concern would be much better placed at the real issues of debt we are facing (climate, education, etc).
For those that don’t know Bruce well enough, and therefore might this read this, he isn’t a socialist commy or something What I understand him to be saying, to which I agree, is there was a season for neoliberalism, and now is the time for the next step in the chain which is being forced by the good (and bad) fruit of rampant neoliberalism.
More interesting reading on this topic here in case people are interested.
The ideas presented align well with major demographic, economic, and environmental trends in Australia. However, in a increasingly saturated startup environment, differentiation will be critical. I believe the most promising opportunities will leverage emerging technologies like AI, blockchain, and IoT in innovative ways to create breakthrough solutions for complex, intersecting challenges.
For example, a startup that uses IoT sensors, computer vision AI, and blockchain-based carbon accounting could provide revolutionary decarbonization solutions across agriculture, transport, and energy. This kind of novel, platform-based approach combining multiple advanced technologies has huge disruptive potential across many Australian industries. The key will be finding creative solutions that move beyond mimicking global startups and tap into Australia’s unique advantages and needs in a globally conscious way. With the right vision, a startup could address local challenges while expanding internationally from the outset.
Contextually speaking, there are challenges and opportunities that we have to face and act as Filipinos living in the third-world country as discribed:
Develop in-demand digital skills - Coding, cybersecurity, digital marketing, etc. These skills allow working for high-growth startups globally.
Become online freelancers - Offer services like graphic design, virtual assistance, data services on international freelance platforms.
Build local startup ecosystems - Create collaborations, hubs and support networks for startups in major cities.
Launch startups addressing local needs - Build in areas like fintech, agtech, education that tackle pain points.
Compete globally - Join international startup competitions to gain exposure and seed funding.
Leverage the diaspora - Connect with Filipinos worldwide for partnerships and market access.
Gain overseas experience - Pursue opportunities to study and work abroad to gain skills.
Adopt frugal innovation - Innovate through constraint-based, jugaad approaches tailored for limited resources.
Collaborate with social enterprises - Work with those aligning business with positive socio-economic impact.
Voice developing world perspectives - Provide insights from the Philippines to influence inclusive innovation.
The key for Filipinos is leveraging local strengths while connecting digitally to ride the waves of change. This allows creating impact both in the Philippines and globally.
“For those that don’t know Bruce well enough, and therefore might this read this, he isn’t a socialist commy or something”
LOL.
In French and Google translation sucks sorry
No, but I have read about them both. I know they were both 19th century economic thinkers and their debates were famous. I think of Bastiat being like Milton Friedman or Friedrich Hayek. I think of Proudhon as being more like Noam Chomsky. I prefer Proudhon because he informed a lot of later anti-capitalist, anti-statist socialists focused on collective ownership and grassroots democracy. I’m not a socialist per se, but I think we’ve gone way too far in the other direction, ever since Reagan and Thatcher. They broke everything. In terms of balance, the post war years, in the heights of the legacy of the New Deal in the US, is probably best model in living memory I can think of for where I think we should be going.
Rather than Hayek’s or Friedman’s, my appreciation of Bastiat’s work is much closer to the one I have for Adam Smith’s.
Bastiat was also a very talented storyteller, with a great taste for metaphors.
Do you know he was actually sitting on the left in the assembly? He was highly appreciated by all classes of the population, more particularly in his electoral division (“Les Landes”).
Being often mentioned by Reagan and Thatcher as one of their “influencers” LOL, it is not surprising that the Left had progressively banned him from the list of acceptable thinkers. (In that sense, he’s close to Friedman indeed).
I’m more divided on Proudhon TBH. His writings are not as clear, and (not unlike Chomsky these last few years), I generally lose track of the rationale before I can learn anything. In the letters I mentioned in this blog post, he really gives away consistency and logic and resorts to low blows.
In any case, like they say “In biology, everything has to be seen through the lens of evolution”, I think that it is the same for political philosophy. All these thinkers have offered interesting innovative ideas to the problems of their times, based on the episteme of their times. We should be able in 2023 to get pas these labels and doctrines.
What I understand him to be saying, to which I agree, is there was a season for neoliberalism, and now is the time for the next step in the chain which is being forced by the good (and bad) fruit of rampant neoliberalism.
