The document discusses how business models must adapt to changing market conditions in the digital age. Key points discussed include the decreasing lifespan of companies requiring faster adaptation, the unbundling of products and services allowing for new opportunities, and the rise of growth platforms that can scale faster by leveraging network effects. It suggests business models will need to shift from a focus on proprietary assets and control to learning faster and leveraging networks in order to maintain competitive advantage in this new environment. Recommendations are provided for platforms that can help businesses and individuals scale and adapt.

1. 1
2 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9
C A P I TA L I Z I N G
O N C H A N G E

7. A C H A N G I N G P A R A D I G M

10. B U F F E T ’ S K E Y I N V E S T M E N T S

11. Small firm
E C O N O M I E S O F S C A L E
- I L L U S T R A T E D -
Output
Average
cost
Large firm

12. Minimum efficient scale
DIGITAL AGE - FASTER TO SCALE,
FASTER TO DISECONOMIES OF SCALE
Output
Average
cost
Diseconomies
of scale

14. T H E U N B U N D L I N G
O P P O R T U N I T Y

15. 15

16. 16

17. 17

18. 18
ATTENTION GAP
Unless your advertising
contains a big idea, it will
pass like a ship in the night.
-David Ogilvy-

19. I S T H I S A D P O I N T L E S S ?

21. 21
AUTHENTICITY GAP

22. 22
Great Product
Customer
Acquisition +
Engagement
feedback
loop
Brand-building
(big ideas,
emotional connections)
Consumer
mobilization
(influencers, price,
promotions,
direct marketing)
Virality and
referrals
marketing

23. T H E E X P O N E N T I A L G R O W T H
O P P O R T U N I T Y

24. T H E C H A N G I N G N A T U R E O F S C A L E
Output
Market
Share

26. N E W S T R A T E G I C I M P E R A T I V E S
InfluenceControl
Learning faster
NetworksProprietary assets
Working faster
Pull
Leveraging position
Open
Push
Defending position
Closed
How
business
must adapt
How
business
must adapt

27. F R O M C A S T L E S T O F O R R E S T S

28. O P E N I N G U P T O B E C O M I N G A G G R E G A T O R S

29. Clayton M. Christensen
- Harvard Business School
The reason is that good management itself
was the root cause. Managers played the
game the way it was supposed to be played.
The very decision-making and resource-
allocation processes that are key to the
success of established companies are the
very processes that reject disruptive
technologies.

30. MAIN
BUSINESS
NEW
BUSINESS IDEA

32. 32

33. T H E C H A N G I N G N A T U R E O F
W O R K O P P O R T U N I T Y

34. Career
Higher
education
Graduate
scheme
Manager
Senior
Manager
Director
CxO
Retirement
Time

35. Average company lifespan on S&P 500 Index (in years)

36. The end of competitive advantage - Rita Gunther McGrath
Organizational systems Individual skills
A stable career path A series of gigs
Dependence on
individual ingenuity
Power of augmented
workforce
Infrequent job switching Permanent
career campaigns
Careers managed
by the organization
Careers managed
by the individual
SETTLERS HUNTERS

37. Source of
income
Financial
freedom
Provable
solvency
Personal
freedom
Stability Health care Pensions
Constant
enrichment
What companies are now starting to offer is more personal freedom, in exchange for fewer benefits.
But after a certain threshold, the bargain is losing appeal.

38. OPPORTUNITY 1
Helping us to achieve financial freedom AND personal freedom
Freelancer
Accounts +
Insights +
Savings Goals
Financial
freedom
+ interest
free credit
(income
smoothing)
Personal
freedom
+ sickness/
accident
insurance
+ liability
insurance
+ income /
disability /
death insurance
+ health /
dental
insurance
+ perks
+ pensions
+ investing
+ advice
Income Solvency Stability Benefits Pension Constant
enrichment

39. OPPORTUNITY 2
Helping us to get housing faster, re-skill for ever evolving jobs, democratize hedging

40. A L L O W I N G C O M P A N I E S T O S C A L E F A S T E R

41. New
clients
Scale advantage
and more market
information
Clients grow
faster, more
predictably
More varied
client base
Higher quality
at scale
Higher
attractiveness for
best talent and
partners
T H E R I S E O F T H E G R O W T H P L A T F O R M
COMPLEXITY OF SERVICE
VALUEADD
Outsourcing
On-demand
talent matching platforms
Growth Platforms
1980s 2000s 2020s
Cost
arbitrage and
operational
efficiency
Larger talent pool, but
commodified
No risk sharing
Un-bundled tasks,
management overhead
grows fast
Global network of best talent
Risk transfer for both sides of platform
Work discovery and execution
Re-bundled to offer whole functions
Greater specialism and complexity
Opens up network effects

42. New
clients
Scale advantage
and more market
information
Clients grow
faster, more
predictably
More varied
client base
Higher quality
at scale
Higher
attractiveness for
best talent and
partners

43. New
clients
Scale advantage
and more market
information
Clients grow
faster, more
predictably
More varied
client base
Higher quality
at scale
Higher
attractiveness for
best talent and
partners
@Nicolas_Colin
Entrepreneurship, finance, strategy, policy.
Co-Founder TheFamily. Professor
Sciences Po.
@daveg – David Galbraith
Based in Geneva. Architecture, design,
technology, physics and finance. Partner,
Anthemis, Venture Capital
@benthompson
Author/Founder of Stratechery. Host of
ExponentFM.
@meedabyte
Creator of Platform Design Toolkit:
http://platformdesigntoolkit.com
@timoreilly
Founder and CEO, O'Reilly Media.
Watching the alpha geeks, sharing their
stories, helping the future unfold.
@andrewchen
General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz.
Previous: Growth Uber
T W I T T E R R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S

44. New
clients
Scale advantage
and more market
information
Clients grow
faster, more
predictably
More varied
client base
Higher quality
at scale
Higher
attractiveness for
best talent and
partners
ben@aperture.co
@robinsonbenp
ch.linkedin.com/in/robinsonben
https://medium.com/@RobinsonBenP
https://medium.com/aperture-hub
C O N T A C T D E T A I L S

45. New
clients
Scale advantage
and more market
information
Clients grow
faster, more
predictably
More varied
client base
Higher quality
at scale
Higher
attractiveness for
best talent and
partners
A P E R T U R E P O D C A S T
W W W . A P E R T U R E H U B . C O
@ A P E R T U R E _ H U B

47. New
clients
Scale advantage
and more market
information
Clients grow
faster, more
predictably
More varied
client base
Higher quality
at scale
Higher
attractiveness for
best talent and
partners
S O M E U S E F U L L I N K S
http://ritamcgrath.com/books/the-end-of-competitive-advantage/
http://www.uoc.edu/uocpapers/dt/eng/cusumano.html
http://www.mintzberg.org/books/rise-and-fall-strategic-planning
http://www.claytonchristensen.com/books/the-innovators-dilemma/
https://salon.thefamily.co/in-search-of-scalability-5c495f8f4f0#.au15rmj2y
http://a16z.com/2016/03/07/all-about-network-effects/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-banking-business-models-digital-age-ben-robinson/
https://www.ft.com/content/aadf9a1c-99ce-11e6-8f9b-70e3cabccfae?mhq5j=e5
https://medium.com/@RobinsonBenP/firms-need-business-model-change-not-blockchain-bc8b0b2466bb
https://medium.com/@RobinsonBenP/marketing-isnt-dead-ask-facebook-c577b3bf4faa
https://medium.com/aperture-hub/the-rise-of-the-growth-platform-b67b6d919b94
https://hedgethebook.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Unscaled-Generation-Upstarts-Creating-Economy/dp/1610398122
https://www.oreilly.com/tim/wtf-book.html