Slides from my ETech 09 keynote. Reasonably good summary of the talk itself can be found at http://is.gd/mFkK Some video clips at http://bit.ly/RNvAV

1. Work on Stuff that
Matters
Tim O’Reilly
O’Reilly Media, Inc.
www.oreilly.com
ETech
March 9, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009

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4. • Photo by Jeff Kubina: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kubina/47264499/in/set-1030659/
Monday, March 9, 2009

5. Not an investment bubble - a reality
bubble!
•Financial crises
•Worst income inequality since the Gilded Age
•Oil price shock
•Global warming
•Decline in science literacy & education
•Water scarcity
•Exotic diseases
•Aging populations and soaring health costs
•Decline in US economic competitiveness and
innovation
•Dysfunctional political system
Monday, March 9, 2009

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7. A lot of people thought I was saying to
work on non-profits, or maybe social
ventures...
Monday, March 9, 2009

8. I’m actually saying that the world’s
great challenges are also the world’s
great opportunities
Monday, March 9, 2009

9. What we choose to fight is so tiny!
What fights us is so great!
If only we would let ourselves be dominated
as things do by some immense storm,
we would become strong too, and not need names.
When we win it's with small things,
and the triumph itself makes us small.
--Rainer Maria Rilke, The Man Watching
Monday, March 9, 2009

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17. “Big Hairy Audacious Goals”
--Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, Built to Last
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20. “We need to connect citizens with each other to
engage them more fully and directly in solving the
problems that face us. We must use all available
technologies and methods to open up the federal
government, creating a new level of transparency
to change the way business is conducted in
Washington and giving Americans the chance to
participate in government deliberations and
decision-making in ways that were not possible
only a few years ago.”
- From Barack Obama’s campaign platform on
technology
Monday, March 9, 2009

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24. Take the long view
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28. Scenario Planning and
“Robust Strategies”
Monday, March 9, 2009

29. Scenarios for Oil Drilling: 1980–
90
Active Rigs
(Yearly Averages)
Forecasts by Major Oilfield Equipment Group
Monday, March 9, 2009

30. Scenarios for Oil Drilling: 1980–
90
Active Rigs
(Yearly Averages)
Actual
Forecasts by Major Oilfield Equipment Group
Monday, March 9, 2009

31. IBM’s original forecast for the PC
Monday, March 9, 2009

32. IBM’s original forecast for the PC
Monday, March 9, 2009

33. Scenario Planning
Singularity
Government We save
saves us ourselves
Global Economic & Environmental Collapse
Monday, March 9, 2009

34. Scenario Planning
Singularity
Government We save
saves us ourselves
Global Economic & Environmental Collapse
Monday, March 9, 2009

35. Choose your own adventure
Monday, March 9, 2009

36. 1. Work on something that matters to
you more than money
Monday, March 9, 2009

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38. Taking a Road Trip
• http://autos.canada.com/greatcanadianroadtrip/index.html
Monday, March 9, 2009

39. Taking a Road Trip
• http://autos.canada.com/greatcanadianroadtrip/index.html
Monday, March 9, 2009

40. It’s not a tour of gas stations!
Monday, March 9, 2009

41. This might be where you end up
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/06/12/opinion/0613-GASPUMPS_index.html

Monday, March 9, 2009

42. 2. Create more value than you capture
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48. Build a simple system - let it evolve
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49. The first IBM PC
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52. Be friendly to those who extend you
Monday, March 9, 2009

53. housingmaps.com - the very first
Google maps mashup
•It was a “hack.” Google learned from it,
quickly, and turned it into a supported feature
Monday, March 9, 2009

54. Be generous in boosting the work of
others
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55. “Changing the world by spreading the
knowledge of innovators.”
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