{"id":8974,"date":"2020-04-07T15:46:01","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T15:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/connectbogota.org\/?p=8974"},"modified":"2020-04-13T16:55:27","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T16:55:27","slug":"3-reasons-why-im-hopeful-even-optimistic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/landing.connectbogota.org\/en\/3-reasons-why-im-hopeful-even-optimistic\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Reasons Why I\u2019m Hopeful, Even Optimistic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Peter Diamandis <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(1)The\u00a0human race has never before faced a SINGULAR enemy<\/strong>.\u00a0And we are responding, in unison, in record numbers!<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By my estimates, somewhere between 100 – 200 million<\/em> physicians, scientists, nurses, technologists, engineers are all taking aim at this pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are running tens of thousands<\/em> of experiments in parallel and sharing information with a transparency and at speeds we’ve never seen before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These advancements may seem deceptively few at the moment (as we are only hearing about the earliest treatments), but thousands of additional impromptu experiments and therapeutic approaches are being initiated globally, across hospitals, doctors\u2019 offices and research labs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As these experiments bare fruit and yield data, I have little doubt that we will experience a tsunami of solutions that will disrupt and decimate this pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One snippet from a recent NYTimes article<\/a> encapsulates this optimism perfectly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile political leaders have locked their borders, scientists have been shattering theirs, creating a global collaboration unlike any in history. Never before, researchers say, have so many experts in so many countries focused simultaneously on a single topic and with such urgency. […]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normal imperatives like academic credit have been set aside. Online repositories make studies available months<\/em> ahead of journals. Researchers have identified and shared hundreds<\/em> of viral genome sequences. More than 200 clinical trials <\/em>have been launched, bringing together hospitals and laboratories around the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

United by urgency, scientists are casting aside nation-specific territorialism, research secrecy, and academic publishing politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, government approval processes for clinical trials are now expedited at a historic pace. And online archives of pre-published academic research, such as medRxiv and bioRxiv, are being flooded by scientists from every corner of the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New diagnostics, antivirals, vaccines, and therapeutics are rushing towards society at exponential speeds.<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(2) It could have been\u00a0MUCH<\/em>\u00a0worse \u2014 we\u2019ll be prepared for next time.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Imagine if the COVID-19 virus had the mortality rate of Ebola (25% to 90%), or even SARS (11%+), while maintaining its high infectious rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of people treat this virus today as if it\u2019s a death sentence. Yet it\u2019s not for the vast majority of people. For many, it is a severe cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Bill Gates and a multitude of scientists (e.g. Dr. Larry Brilliant) warned us about pandemics over the past decade, the majority of society ignored these warnings. We didn\u2019t prepare\u2026 at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think of COVID-19 as a \u201cpractice pandemic,\u201d making us brutally aware of the failure points and weak links in our economic system, healthcare complex and communication channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next time \u2014 and there will be a next time \u2014 we will be ready. A slew of exponential technologies, ranging from AI, networks & sensors, to CRISPR and gene therapy, will be there to detect it immediately, creating solutions and distributing them globally at lightning speeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(3)<\/strong>\u00a0There are\u00a0compelling opportunities ahead…<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We are in the midst of a fear and<\/em> virus-driven economic meltdown, yet once we make it through to the other side, there are going to be incredible opportunities for entrepreneurs. These opportunities take three forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, countless outstanding employees are losing their jobs (and my heart goes out to them), and the faster we digitize, the sooner one can harness this extraordinary talent, newly available in the near future;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, multiple assets are fast becoming available, many of which can be re-focused on higher-value applications; and,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, the stock market will soon be ripe with the best buying opportunities we\u2019ve seen in a dozen years! You can see here a US-wide prediction engine<\/a> (launched by FutureLoop.com) that shows when experts predict the Stock Market will hit its lowest point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bottom line, after the economic crash of 2008, what followed was a period of economic growth. What also followed was the birth and boom of revolutionary business models and startups (Airbnb, Uber, Groupon, WhatsApp, Venmo, Slack, Square…)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may well have another \u201cRoaring Twenties\u201d <\/strong>coming our way (once again), one that uplifts all of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what do I recommend as an exponential entrepreneur?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 3 Things to Do Right Now as an Entrepreneur<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the midst of this global pause, during which many of us are under lockdown in our homes for likely 60 days, this is a perfect window to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(1) Reinvent Your Business:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two key pieces of advice here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, if you haven\u2019t digitized your business yet, now is the time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Figure out what processes, assets, products or services you (or your company) currently implement in an analog fashion and figure out how to digitize them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you digitize<\/em><\/strong> them, you\u2019ll be able to dematerialize<\/em><\/strong>, demonetize <\/em><\/strong>and democratize <\/em><\/strong>your products and services. What does this mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n