Future-Proofing You

9Filling the Void

If you look long enough into the void, the void begins to look back through you.

—Friedrich Nietzsche

THE LAUNCH OF A new iPhone is always a spectacle. But the launch of the iPhone X was one of the biggest of all time. Thousands of Apple super fans were camping out in the streets to be one of the first to own this tenth anniversary phone. As you are nearing the front of the line, eager with anticipation, a man comes out of the flagship Apple Store. He puts his $1,000 prized‐possession into an iPhone case and asks you to smash it on the ground with all of your strength. Thinking him mad, you try to refuse. With a crowd of fanboys and television press staring at you, you finally relent. You grab the shiny new phone that you have been craving to hold in your hand all night and hurl it onto the concrete sidewalk. Nothing happens. Not even a scratch. As amazing as the Mous Limitless case is, what is even more impressive is how the team behind it became millionaires before their very first phone case had even shipped.

Every successful new product or technology creates new adjacent markets. Before Henry Ford mass‐produced the Model T, there were no car washes or gas stations. Before George Beauchamp invented the electric guitar, there were no amplifiers, mixing consoles, tremolos, or heavy metal rock and roll. Before Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, there were no social media experts or influencers. When Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, it also created a ...