10 Things that will be obsolete in a decade

Contemplating and predicting the future is a top level skill of visionaries entrepreneurs. They anticipate and take action.

Anyone can do this by:

• watching industries, tech and trends on the down cycle

• being curious about what could replace them

• reading other's insights 

• making deductions from the world around them.

Here are my predictions:

1. Hourly Wage → Incentives and Ownership

Future compensation will shift to performance-based pay and equity stake for a more balanced incentive structure along with hourly.

2. 9-5 Jobs → Solopreneurship

Traditional jobs are already moving to freelancing, gig work, and small business. The barrier to entry for starting a business has decreased. Jobs will not go away, but there will be 100 fold growth in solopreneurship.

3. Large Universities/MBA → Niche Educational platforms

Large universities and MBAs will give way to fragmented and niche educational platforms.

Think coding, AI, entrepreneurship and soft skills.

4. Top down Leadership → Inclusive Leadership

The leaders of tomorrow will focus on collaborations, partnerships, and building communities. There will be a growing need for soft skills like emotional intelligence and empathy.

5. Skill Specialization → Human-AI Collaboration

As AI takes over daily tasks, people will start leveraging AI to delegate their weaknesses and elevate their unique human skills.

6. Corporate Brands → Relatable Brands

Trust and authenticity is required for consumers to buy from brands. Large brands will increasingly rely on personalities to create relatability with their customers.

7. High Budget Advertising → Influencer

Partnerships Instead of costly advertising campaigns, brands are now beginning to partner with influencers who have an intimate, niche audience.

8. Mega Celebrities → Micro-Influencers

Mega influencers/Celebrities are often hard to reach and may lack intimacy with their audience. Instead of one celebrity or mega influencer, brands will opt for a team of micro-influencers that align with their niche and are close to their customers.

9. Mega E-Commerce → Individual Brands

Gen-Z & Alpha consumers buy from brands based on values such as sustainability, giving back over price.

Last-mile shipping and flex warehouse space will become more accessible, to give small brands a way to compete. In addition, their niche social media channels will also give them an edge in customer relationships.

10. Niche → Micro-Niches

A niche of “Retired homeowners in Tampa” is splitting into sub niches like: "Retired homeowners in Tampa in X income bracket, who enjoy renovating, have grandchildren and dogs.

This is due to a fragmentation of niche entrepreneurs as well as an increased ability to segment and reach them successfully through social channels with ultra personalization.

In closing

There is tremendous value in being able to see ahead. It’s not about being right.

Rather, it’s about practicing a skill that few have.

This that puts you in a leadership position in a new trend that no-one else saw coming.

“This is the best reason to learn history: not in order to predict the future, but to free yourself of the past and imagine alternative destinies.” ― Yuval Noah Harari

Until next week,

Noemi