Wearables

• Connected devices worn by users for closer human-machine interface and convenience
• Limited by current hardware battery and connectivity considerations
• Value limited by number of use cases, expanding rapidly via Apple Watch and Android ecosystems

Examples:

• Apple Watch
• Fitbit
• Jawbone Up
• Google Glass

Venture Capital (Corporate)

• Corporate venture capital can allow larger companies to participate in agile startup ecosystems
• Corporate VC sometimes used to distance large firms from risk, as in financial tech area
• May be hard to integrate startups into larger enterprise 
• Rationale for investment varies: investment portfolio diversity, intellectual property acquisition, talent acquisition, mergers with other companies or capabilities

Examples:

• VC efforts within large companies
• GV (formerly Google Ventures)
• Citi Ventures
• StartupBootcamp

Urbanization

• Move to urban centers for jobs, community and/or innovation potential
• May slow with increased rural connectivity/pendulum swing possible
• Affects/affected by traditional models of career development, transportation, economics, family and education, decrease in manufacturing jobs

Examples:

• Movement to San Francisco Bay Area
• Urban-Rural Generational Divide

Upgradeable Vehicles

• Vehicles whose functionality evolves after purchase through software or hardware upgrades
• Upgrades may be difficult for core vehicle functions based for hardware or legal issues; comparatively easy for infotainment
• Usually requires OTA (over-the-air) upgrade functionality, upgrade marketplace and strong data ethics foundation

Examples:

• Tesla
• BMW ConnectedDrive (limited)
• Automatic (brand) plug-in connected car tool

Uber + Didi

• Various regulatory influences
• Didi supported by Chinese government’s endorsement of ridesharing services
• Uber variously blocked or actively supported by many local governments
• Ugly wars with traditional taxi companies, etc, who fought over whether Uber should be defined as a taxi service or not
• Lyft attempted to circumvent taxi rules by not charging riders, but asking for a ‘gift’ to the driver
• Uber negotiates to pay airports for access to pick up riders
• Uber will pay tickets for drivers in some jurisdictions if ticket is related to being a ridesharing provider

Thread, Weave and Brillo

• Collection of three coordinated, core technology layers to make connected devices
• Thread: IoT network protocol Google helped get started (and whose organizing group has many companies, not just Google)—creating a standard for mesh-based IoT connections
• Weave: API layer for IoT with a micro-OS (here’s a bit more about the implications, from Verge)
• Brillo: IoT-optimized variant of Android for embedding in devices (again, a bit more from Verge)

Third Places

• Idea of having comfort and consistency in a place you do not own or inhabit all the time
• May include increased privacy and luxury
• Digital layer makes customization/personalization and scheduling easier, such as Uber + Spotify integration so a rider’s music plays through the Uber driver’s speakers automatically

Examples:

• Car as second home
• Starbucks as global living room/meeting space
• Plane and Hotel as third places
• Car rental and hotel apps which allow frequent users to set preferences in advance

Software-Defined Products

• Responsive design
• Products where value is defined in part (or fully) by software, so that value evolves over time
• Requires the ability to upgrade hardware devices over the air (OTA), usually via the internet and/or mobile networks

Examples:

• Smartphones
• Tesla upgradeable vehicle features
• BMW ConnectedDrive
• Nest Thermostat
• Software-defined networks (eg, upgradeable firewalls and routers)

Social Products

• Products whose core value involves social functions
• Smart, connected software layer for physical products
• Usually requires access to existing social networks; may also require a ‘social network of things’ for hardware integration
• Done well, creates pull for users to interact with the brand, minimizes ‘pushes’ of brand content
• “If you want to build loyalty, spend less time using data to tell customers about you, and spend more time telling them something about themselves.”—Mark Bonchek

Examples:

• Instagram
• Nike+/Nike Fuel

Social CRM

• Customer relationship management which takes into account relationships in online and offline worlds
• Requires social network integration
• Goes beyond contact records and sales funnel management

Examples:

• Salesforce with social integration
• SproutSocial
• Nimble
• Coordinated Omnichannel marketing (with 1:1 social)

Smart/Intuitive Technologies (Predictive)

• Products and services with a data layer which makes the experience feel intuitive to the customer—a minimum of effort and thinking is required to get value
• Usually requires integration of many systems and datasets

Examples:

• Recommendation Engines
• Google Now
• Predictive traffic calendaring (Waze travel timing)

Singularity

• Uploading human brains into the cloud
• Increasing scientific breakthroughs make it at least possible
• Major ethical dilemmas and functional challenges

Examples:

• Ex Machina
• The Singularity is Near
• Ray Kurzweil (author)

Shared Ownership/Sharing Economy

• Shared ownership, usually of expensive or highly specific goods
• Can be shared ownership between individuals or through ‘rent’-like services
• Increases individual purchasing power by fractionalizing ownership, e.g. timeshares
• Digital layer lessens convenience and cost impacts on individuals owners by coordinating access and service; may include insurance or expanded warranties
• Barter or swap (either of goods or services) may be critical component to increasing usership

Examples:

• Getaround
• Ford co-leasing
• Tool libraries
• Bagborrowsteal, renttherunway
• Zipcar
• Sharegrid

SDKs & HDKs

• SDKs enable developers to quickly develop fast, stable, secure and consistent software for end users
• Large companies provide SDKs to smaller companies developing on their platform for more consistent user experience
• Takes form of toolkit of software elements (sometimes as a library or framework) and documentation; may have multiple contributors (in open source approaches)

Examples:

• HomeKit, HealthKit
• Apple Human Interface Guidelines
• jSON
• Webkit

San Francisco + Getaround

• SF city set aside hundreds of street parking spots for carsharing services
• Street value of $500-1,000 apiece
• Indication of public-private partnership, regulatory incentives

Reintermediation

• Reintroduction of sales/distribution layer, or reconfiguration of sales/distribution layer
• Can happen when relationship with device manufacturer is more important than relationship with reseller as with Apple’s universal SIM strategy
• Happens when companies introduce direct sales channel, such as e-commerce, or better bundled functionality

Examples

• Apple direct iPhone sales & financing
• Apple SIM
• Tesla Supercharger network

Predictive Analytics

• Use of analytics tools to predict customer or market behavior, other factors
• Requires extensive algorithm development
• Can incorporate developer biases if not properly constructed
• Best when integrated with active feedback loops from customers

Examples:

• The back end of recommendation and suggestion engines
• Tableau
• SAS

Personalization

• Trend of customizing or even co-creating products and services
• Digital layer for pre-manufacturing configuration
• Can be made more affordable with digital, but can require paradigm change in manufacturing if changes are more than surface-level
• Can heavily affect inventory management

Examples:

• Apple Watch (Faces, Complications, Bands)
• MINI Vehicle Configurator/Built-To-Order

Open Source

• Software developed by multiple parties
• Shared/non-ownership of code
• Promotes innovation by giving an incentive for developers who benefit from entire ecosystem
• May be difficult to keep consistent and may have hidden technical costs
• Can rapidly accelerate development across coopetitors (cooperative competitors) a la Linux 

Examples:

• Linux
• Thread Group
• Darwin
• Raspberry Pi
• OpenStack

Multi-Sided Platforms (and Platform Economies)

• Establishment of platforms to enable creation of value by people other than those who developed the platform
• Combination of shared central resources and develop-specific innovations
• Core of modern business models behind iOS, Android ecosystems, many others
• Allows innovation at both the core and edges of an enterprise
• Allows solving of very complex problems at enterprise scale and often leaves market, distribution, integration or feature-specific innovations to smaller developers

Examples:

• iOS App Store
• Google Play Store
• Amazon
• Etsy