I'm not an expert. I don't build apps.. I don't know how to code. In fact I can barely tell a good story...but I'm a fashion designer. We don't know much, but we know culture.
Technology companies run by Generation X have even less idea about the future than the Millennials.
I once had a meeting with a company that was looking to hire a few fashion designers for another company looking to expand. When I came to the meeting, no one was there. I brought what I usually carry. A note pad, a pen, my note 5, my Gear VR headset, a fleecer scarf, a fleecer suit prototype, and my iPad. I arrived to discover the person I was going to meet was unable to meet me so their business partner filled in. It was no problem.
Keep in mind, these people approached me. The first question I asked was, so...do you know what my brand is all about? They said no, I'm sorry I wasn't filled in. Immediately I was unimpressed, you would think in 2016, you would have the know how to GOOGLE someone, at least look at ones email signature to have a better idea of the person you are speaking to. I asked about what direction this client wanted to go...because it became clear to me this was a classic third party marketing/advertising firm. The second question I asked was tell me more about your company, not the company that is interested in hiring me. He explained to me that his firm was a marketing/advertising firm that focused on innovation. Coming up with creative solutions for clients, blah blah blah. The third question I asked was, tell me more about the CEO..with the response..."You know what I don't remember his last name?" I immediately picked up that this was the classic...
Social Media Know It All -- Marketing Firm. The firms who insist with NDA's. (Non-Disclosure Agreements)
Which is so ironic because you preach innovation...but the core reasoning why technology thrives now is "open source". Transparency. Isn't it?
WHEN IS EVERYONE GOING TO WAKE AND REALIZE NO ONE OWNS IDEAS? NO ONE IS A GENIUS..ask Elizabeth Gilbert.
You know those firms; typically come from Generation X, usually in their early to mid 30's. Had that realization that there were some Baby Boomers who financially succeeded in the late 90's to mid 2000's and now have corporate dollars to play with.
You know those Baby Boomer/Maturist ceo's that run big corporations that have yet to get their company into the social media/app market because many of those in the exec level who come from that generation barely know how to use a smart phone, let alone check their email.
You know, so you have people of Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook generation having this epiphany during the late 2000's to late 2010 that there is a way to capitalize off the app-market-boom, bitcoin-boom, wearable-tech-boom, now virtual-reality-boom and blah blah blah after the .COM boom. Boom.
It's so sad, that this person was trying to tell me things that not only did I already know. I've probably done a better job at getting a client to say yes...
How? By figuring out what they want, not selling them something they don't need. I remember the best advice I ever got with making closing a deal with a client was when a client wants something...don't give them one option...give them 20. Work with the client, not at them.
There is no such thing as too many options, and the trick is to convince and manipulate them into thinking your ideas are their ideas. Leading them there with an intelligent argument.
So back to the story...
We were talking, and talking, and talking, and I sort just laid it all down...who I am, what my brand stands for, and how I'm trying to help the transgender community and help bring fashion and technology people together. And then...there was a moment where I noticed he was taking notes. He was taking notes on what I was talking about. The TED talk..."People don't buy what you do they buy why you do it", by economist Simon Sinek. He didn't know what GLOWFORGE was...6 months ago they became the worlds biggest crowdfunded company with over 27 million dollars in preorders...the world's most affordable desktop 3D printer in partnership with Google where all the processing power is done in the cloud which allowed them to make it under $2500. (A step toward true self-sustainability)
This person in front of me, is doing exactly what every TECH and MARKETING COMPANY in Toronto is doing.
No plan. No morals. No ethics. They are just trying to make money.
It's so sad that Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality is about to boom, completely redefining what could be the future of how we interact and think about technology and all of these people are ONLY thinking about making money.
Barely... thinking about the power it could have on changing culture. Changing the way we think about Toronto, Technology, Fashion, Social Interaction, Design...to name a few.
It makes me sad, that I have to do this by myself. I have to be the one that screams INTEGRATION. The secret is working together! OPEN SOURCE NETWORK! TRANSPARENCY! GENDER EQUALITY! YOUTH! EDUCATION! CULTURE! SELF SUSTAINABILITY! AUTHENTICITY! INTEGRATION!
I'm so thankful to see companies like vTime, Cubicle Ninjas, Cerebrum, and the Transgender Community willing to at least engage and have a conversation.
Please Fail. Please. Make your money with every boom in technology and then move aside so the rest of us can figure out the why.
Figure out the culture, the next culture.