Lapizuli - 1:46 am on Aug 30, 2011 (gmt 0)

I tend to think this won't help, because it's only abstract, but I know it would have helped me at certain turning points to think of things this way...

The confusion you're feeling has its roots in the (arguable) fact that we're at the crux of a momentous shift in economic models from car-based to digital-based. This is like the 1920s and 1930s, when we were shifting from railroad to car, right before a huge boom in innovation and infrastructure. What's needed, what will succeed, then, is innovation and infrastructure. The concept of "business model" presupposes stability. This is not a time of stability; it's a watershed period. Build infrastructure. Think creatively.

Think about what business models are phasing out and what new ones might work. What business models relied on the car to move individual people and goods? Those are going out. What models don't rely on the car? There are a lot of possibilities; the big infrastructure creators - the equipment manufacturers, software creators, online retailers, search giants, social platforms, payment processors, etc. - have only touched the surface of possibility. They're solutions for now, the transition period, but not for the future.

Think of the problems of building the new online economy. Think:

Why isn't everybody online?

What will they be doing online that they used to do offline?

Why isn't everybody talking to each other?

What do people need during this time, and beyond?

What skills will be needed to thrive in the future? They won't be the same as the skills of the past.

Who will be players who weren't before?

What are people afraid of insofar as using online resources?

I know it's abstract, but thinking about these things is the only sure course that I know of to success.