The tech way or the highway?

I was planning to write about investing in oil and gas in Nigeria for this column. Alas, the economy and life work in mysterious ways. The oil price went down the toilet, emerging markets were sent back to the kids’ table, and I attended the Oxford Business Alumni New Year dinner.

Brent Hoberman was the keynote speaker. I am not going to dive deeply into Brent’s stellar journey, from 
LastMinute.com, to Made.com and more recently Founders Factory. However, what struck me in his speech was his underlying correlation between tech entrepreneurship and financial success. Actually, my simple takeaway from the evening was this: Be a tech entrepreneur or do not even bother.

This was a pretty depressing conclusion for an oil-and-gas zealot, human enthusiast and the ultimate anti-geek – I still print investment pitches to read them better. However, It made me think about two concepts.

The first one is group thinking.

It begs the question to corporate venturers: How can you truly free yourself from it? Your game is finding new ways and new ideas that will drive long-term competitive advantages for your companies. Outsourced innovation requires consciously stretching your thinking. As long as the target or venture is solving a problem, alleviating a fundamental pain or making some economic sense – short or long term – who cares about a definite business model, or whether there is a tech angle.

We all know that in a world so fast, so fluid, the venture will most probably pivot three, four or even five times before becoming what it really ought to be.

The second concept I thought about was the danger of oversimplification.

For the entrepreneurs out there, or the would-be entrepreneurs, feel empowered to break from the tech craze. Successful ventures start from within and a good dose of observation.

Yes, technology is an inherent part of the way we live today, and we will live tomorrow. Yes, the millennials and other generation Z are tomorrow’s consumers. Yes, they do not understand why their elders watch TV, because “you are just doing nothing while watching”.

But there are so many more dimensions to keep in mind, such as physiological and emotional needs. Resting, disconnecting, stopping. They are more and more jeopardised by a constant flow of information and stimuli from technology.

We all need and crave human interaction to develop, to feel safe, to be happy. This is never going to go away.

The emerging trend for wellness and wellbeing rooted in real-life interaction also tells you something about the need for balance in society.