Think Like a Startup, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 1 A lesson about school

It's time to launch the Startup of you!

We are in the midst of a technological revolution. There is no doubt that our world is changing at a pace never before witnessed in human history. This is no longer controversial, or even debatable; it’s a mere fact. We’ve seen it in our own lives. Innovations that would have seemed unimaginable even 10 years ago are now widely available, affordable and so much a part of our daily life that we imagine we couldn’t live without them. But it’s still early days. We’re only 20 years into this, and let’s not forget that the automobile didn’t arrive until 150 years after the start of the industrial revolution.

This technological shift is impacting us all at a societal and economic level, changing the very nature of the lives we live, including of course how we earn a living. No one is immune. Incredible changes are being introduced in every industry, every business model, every job. This is because everyone is sharing the same core digital technologies.

This revolution is open to everyone who chooses to participate. But we need to reboot the entrepreneurial spirit every one of us was born with, because school, with all its good intentions, has not prepared us for this.

STEM is not enough

As the birth child of the industrial revolution, school taught us survival skills for a bygone era. Educators and governments have deftly moved to ensure the graduates of tomorrow arrive prepared for the technological era ...