On Brian Solis’ website, Sollis (@briansolis) spoke about his experience on Entrepreneur Magazine’s ‘Next Five Years’ Panel. The topic is on how from now until 2020 will redefine virtually every aspect of how we live and work. It will bring in radical technologies, business models, customer experiences and even a new kind of entrepreneurs—a wave of so-called “digital natives” who think and behave differently from each generation before them. Entrepreneur asked thought leaders and cultural anthropologists what this brave new world will be like, how it will evolve and how to thrive within it.
The Future of Generational Relations:
Baby Boomers and Gen Xers make decisions based on their experiences and how they grew up—going to college, getting a job, getting married, buying a house and a car. Millennials are rethinking whether or not college is necessary, whether they want full-time jobs or want to be entrepreneurs.
“They want authenticity, transparency, and they want to know your business is thinking about questions like sustainability.”
The Future of Customer Experience:
Many traditional businesses are having to change their structure in order to support the new dynamic approach to the market, for example, instead of traditional banking, many people are using payment gateways such as PayPal and Venmo. Even if you’re over the age of 35 (the millennial cutoff), if you’re using an iPad or social media, you start to act like a Millennial. It influences how you make decisions and where you go for information. People are becoming more demanding, more informed and more connected.
The Future of Entrepreneurial Vision:
“Ideas don’t really count until you can demonstrate relevance, engagement and momentum.”
Entrepreneurs have to sell their purpose, not their product. Those who fight to be relevant and prove their worth in a market where there is demand, will inevitably succeed.
These are a lot of interesting points. There has been this ideal of separation between millennials and non-millennials, without much interaction between the two. In reality Baby Boomers and Gen Xers are adopting behavior that is considered “millennial behavior.” We think within the next few years the gap will close, and traditional businesses will start considering the different aspects of consumer behavior, and vice versa.
