Fwd: disrupting adjacencies

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:	disrupting adjacencies
Date:	Sun, 25 Oct 2015 10:04:43 -0700
From:	Peter Diamandis <peter@diamandis.com>
Reply-To:	peter@diamandis.com
To:	STeve <stevescott@techacq.com>

Can a company actually disrupt itself?

I often say that businesses must disrupt themselves (before someone else does) to survive.

The fact of the matter is: very few companies have actually successfully disrupted themselves.

Instead, most successful companies "disrupt adjacencies": they leverage their existing assets to expand into new, high growth markets. They actually disrupt someone else!

This blog is about how to disrupt adjacencies.

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Let's start with a few disruption examples.

1. FACEBOOK Disrupts SMS MESSAGING: Facebook decided to disrupt SMS messaging with the launch of Messenger. Because Facebook is a platform, they have been able to garner 700M monthly active users globally – driving a projected 38% decline in Telco SMS revenue in North America by 2017.
2. TESLA Disrupts ENERGY STORAGE: Tesla, an electric car company, is disrupting energy storage with the Tesla Powerwall. They used the technology developed for their cars to branch into this new ($19 billion) market.
3. GOOGLE disrupts MOBILE PHONES: Google is an Internet search company, but in 2008, Google got into the phone/hardware business, shipping Android and beginning the disruption of mobile operating systems. Android currently commands an astounding 82.8% market share.
4. AMAZON disrupts EBOOKS: Amazon started as a company selling physical books, but saw the shift towards e-books. By 2010, the Kindle accounted for 62.8 percent of all e-readers worldwide. Amazon is now the leader in the promotion and sales of digital content in an e-book market worth $1.62 billion.
5. NETFLIX disrupts CONTENT STREAMING & CREATION: Netflix transitioned from mailing DVD's to video streaming over the web. It's now a $41 billion company. Now they are shifting again, aiming to disrupt original content production with Netflix Originals.
6. UBER disrupts FOOD DELIVERY: Uber is exploring how to disrupt the food delivery market with UberEATs. In 2015, the food delivery market is $70 billion, while merely $9 billion happens online. With a fleet of over 14,000 drivers in NYC, distribution and recognition threatens to shake up GrubHub's hold.
7. LINKEDIN disrupts RECRUITING: LinkedIn disrupted the corporate recruiting market ($26B) by launching "Talent Pipeline" in 2011 (now known as Recruiter). LinkedIn had been making money from advertisements and job postings, and then launched a subscription to tools for recruiters to generate leads. Recruiter now accounts for 62% of their revenue in 2015, up 36% from last year.
8. RED BULL disrupts PUBLISHING: Red Bull, an energy drink company (they've sold 50 billion cans), launched Red Bull Media House to produce original sports, culture, and lifestyle content. It has since become one of the world's leading premium content media companies.
9. FUJIFILM disrupts COSMETICS: Fujifilm, the camera company, is disrupting cosmetics. It turns out that of the 200,000 chemicals used in Fujifilm's core business, 4,000 are antioxidants that could be used for cosmetic purposes. The brand, called Astalift, has been on the market for about five years.
10. APPLE disrupts MUSIC PLAYERS: Apple is notorious for disrupting adjacencies. In 2001, after Apple experimented with music application iTunes, they realized there was no good MP3 player on the market. So Apple created their own, the iPod – selling over 300 million of them, until they dematerialized their own technology by pivoting into another adjacent market, the iPhone!
11. GOOGLE, APPLE, UBER & TESLA disrupting CARS & DETROIT: I would not want to be a Detroit car executive. These four Silicon Valley tech companies are investing billions in autonomous cars to disrupt how we drive.
12. FACEBOOK, GOOGLE, SPACEX, VIRGIN/QUALCOMM disrupts COMMUNICATION: Today these companies are looking to provide 1 Megabit per second connectivity to every person on the planet, potentially disrupting the global communications infrastructure. SpaceX alone is looking at launch 4,000+ satellites to accomplish this. Google is launching thousands of balloons, and Virgin and Qualcomm are launching 648 satellites through OneWeb.

How to Identify Great Adjacent Markets

Believe it or not, finding great adjacent markets is pretty straightforward.

Here are three basic questions to ask:

1. How could my company's underlying assets be used differently, ideally to solve problems that a) impact a billion people and b) you are passionate about?
2. Who in your supply chain is doing an awful job, and could you do a better job by developing that business?
3. What else do your customers need, where are they underserved, and how could you solve their problems?

When you answer these questions, you will be able to identify lucrative adjacent markets and begin on the path toward disrupting others and disrupting yourself.

Join Me

This is the sort of conversation we explore at my 250-person executive mastermind group called Abundance 360.

The program is highly selective and currently full. If you'd like to be considered for the waitlist, we are looking for a few last CEOs and entrepreneurs who want to change the world. We imagine a few spots will open up over the next few months. You can apply here.

Share this with your friends, especially if they are interested in any of the areas outlined above.

P.S. Every week I send out a "Tech Blog" like this one. If you want to sign up, go to Diamandis.com and sign up for this and Abundance Insider.

P.P.S. I've just released a podcast with my dear friend Dan Sullivan called Exponential Wisdom. Our conversations focus on the exponential technologies creating abundance, the human-technology collaboration, and entrepreneurship. Head here to listen and subscribe: a360.com/podcast

If you wish to stop receiving our emails or change your subscription options, please Manage Your Subscription
PHD Ventures , 800 Corporate Pointe, Culver City, CA 90230

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Fwd: Abundance Insider: October 16 Edition

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Peter Diamandis <peter@diamandis.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 16, 2015 at 12:04 PM
Subject: Abundance Insider: October 16 Edition
To: STeve <stevescott@techacq.com>

In this week's Abundance Insider: Robot-drone partnerships, computer-simulated brains and 3D printed gold jewelry.

Cheers,
Peter, Marissa, Cody, Maxx, Kelley and Greg

P.S. Send any tips to data@diamandis.com, and send your friends and family to this link to subscribe to Abundance Insider.

Microsoft Researchers Are Working on Multi-Person Virtual Reality

What it is: Microsoft researchers are experimenting with multi-person augmented reality in a project called Comradre (pronounced like "camaraderie"). The project enables much richer, more personalized communication and collaboration than single-person virtual experiences. Imagine standing next to a colleague and independently manipulating multiple tracks of a song in three dimensions!

Why it's important: Integrating physical social interactions with virtual experiences is tricky -- for one thing, it depends on accurate movement tracking of all users in their own scenes -- but it's a critical step to commercializing and using VR/AR.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

Facebook's Internet Drone Team Is Collaborating with Google's Stratospheric Balloons Project

What it is: Online, Facebook and Google are competitors for our attention; offline, they're lobbying to alter international law so that they can use balloons and drones to enable universal Internet access.

Why it's important: Facebook and Google both face the same policy challenges in their respective initiatives to democratize Internet access. By joining forces, they create a powerful synergy -- and send a message of their commitment to opening up the Internet to everyone on the planet.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

You Can Design and 3D-Print Your Own Gold and Silver Jewelry With Trove

What it is: Trove is a platform that turns anyone into a fashion jewelry designer. It has 30 standard jewelry designs that users can customize as they please, right down to the metal choice. Trove's partner Shapeways then 3D prints the jewelry mold and the final product.

Why it's important: The Trove platform simplifies 3D design, and gives curious consumers an easy entry into 3D modeling. Another small yet significant benefit: by letting consumers try on the 3D printed plastic versions of their personalized jewelry, Trove also mitigates losses due to product returns.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

The Lightest Metal Ever

What it is: Boeing has announced a revolutionary new material called microlattice that is the lightest metal ever made. It's incredibly strong, but because it's 99.99 percent air, it balances neatly on top of a dandelion.

Why it's important: Ultra-light materials like microlattice enable streamlined, efficient designs for future airplanes, vehicles and buildings.

Spotted by Gary Monroe

Good Guy NASA Just Released Over 1,200 Patents to Tech Startups, Free of Charge

What it is: NASA has invited tech startups to license patented NASA tech without upfront costs in an initiative called Startup NASA. The agency eliminated initial licensing fees and minimum fees for the first three years of use, but will collect a standard net royalty fee for any products sold after that period. An online patent portfolio organizes the 1,200-plus patents into 15 categories; to get started, entrepreneurs just need to fill out an application for a desired technology.

Why it's important: By dematerializing and demonetizing its patents to entrepreneurs -- who can shoulder significantly more risk than NASA can -- the agency is catalyzing innovation and dramatic breakthroughs.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

Open Bionics Just Unveiled Star Wars, Marvel and Disney-Themed Prosthetics for Kids

What it is: Open Bionics, a member of the Disney Accelerator program, has unveiled brightly colored prosthetic hands branded in familiar Disney superheroes and movie characters. Kids can get 3D-printed prosthetics that look like Iron Man's arm, Elsa's gloved arm from Frozen and a light saber from Star Wars.

Why it's important: What kid wouldn't want to be a superhero or Disney character? Instead of trying to mask a child's limb differences, Open Bionics is celebrating them. With their 3D printed design, and capital investment and royalty-free licensing from Disney, these personalized bionic hands will remain affordable despite their familiar aesthetic.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

Uber Finally Unleashes Its FedEx Killer, Uber Rush

What it is: Uber Rush is a pilot experiment from 2014 that's just been promoted to a standalone business unit. It dematerializes couriers and delivery drivers like FedEx with its on-demand model: for $5 to $7 per delivery, any business can summon an Uber Rush to deliver an item. For example, a restaurant swamped with lunch delivery orders can use Uber Rush couriers to temporarily pitch in, or a boutique could use Uber Rush to offer same-day delivery.

Why it's important: Besides its clear benefits to small businesses, Uber Rush is an excellent example of how to run experiments to identify, test and iterate potential products and services -- and then use these experiment results to make data-driven business decisions.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

LikeAGlove Smart Leggings Will Help You Find Your Perfect Pair of Jeans

What it is: LikeAGlove hopes to demystify online clothing shopping using smart fabric. Its sensor-equipped, conductive fiber-woven leggings discreetly measure a woman's figure and create an accurate digital representation of her figure. Shoppers can then instantly browse designer clothing in the exact sizes that will fit them.

Why it's important: Because of the giant disparity in women's sizes between designers, it's difficult to find a variety of right-sized clothing online. LikeAGlove's sensor-packed leggings make measurement accurate, private and, most importantly, easy.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

How Artificial Intelligence is Finding Gender Bias at Work

What it is: A roundup of companies that are using language- and image-processing technology to identify bias in the workplace, including Kanjoya, Textio and HireVue.

Why it's important: Machine learning reveals that subtle word choices in job ads, employee surveys, and other hiring and retention tools may unintentionally communicate biases. Teaming up with technology identifies these "blind spots" in communication, enabling better decisionmaking throughout the employment cycle.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

Perth Supercomputer Powers World Hunger Fight to Eradicate Devastating Whitefly From Africa

What it is: A team of researchers in Perth are using the most powerful research supercomputer in the southern hemisphere to fight world hunger by stopping the spread and domination of whiteflies in East Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, whiteflies destroy almost 50 percent of cassava, an important regional food crop that 800 million people depend on for daily calories. Using grant money from Bill and Melinda Gates, a team is identifying the DNA of the species responsible for crop obliteration (34 whitefly species exist worldwide) so that they can engineer cassava crops resistant to that species and the viruses they carry.

Why it's important: Supercomputers make it possible to crunch a tremendous amount of data faster than ever before. As access to this computing power dematerializes, demonetizes and democratizes, researchers all over the world will be able to analyze data on demand and take on big problems like hunger.

Spotted by Bjorn Russell

Four-Legged Walking Robot Uses a Drone Sidekick to Map and Avoid Difficult Terrain

What it is: ETH Zurich researchers have paired a camera-equipped drone with a walking robot to simplify navigation. The hexacopter drone flies ahead of the robot to map terrain, landmarks and elevation information. The robot parses this information and combines it with its global map to determine the best path around obstacles and unfamiliar terrain.

Why it's important: When unmanned aerial vehicles can do real-time reconnaissance and course correction for their robot partners, humans are freed to do higher-level work. This particular partnership helped the walking robot successfully navigate previously unknown terrain using map data entirely provided by the drone -- through narrow pathways, up a ramp and on scaffolding.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

Rat Brain Reconstructed in a Computer

What it is: Scientists working on the Blue Brain Project have digitally recreated part of a young rat's brain: 31,000 brain cells of 207 different types with 37 million connections, to be exact. In testing, the computer simulation solved billions of equations for every 25 microseconds of neuronal activity.

Why it's important: This development digitizes a core step of medical research. In experiments, researchers discovered that the digital neurons behaved just like physical neurons do in the lab -- which could one day eliminate animal testing entirely.

Spotted by Gary Monroe

A Realistic Bio-Inspired Robotic Finger

What it is: Florida Atlantic University researchers have developed a realistic 3D-printed robotic finger using a thermal training technique on a shape memory alloy. The fingers can flex and extend in a remarkably lifelike fashion.

Why it's important: This robot has immediate applications in underwater robots, increasing humans' exploration capabilities, but could one day enable powered prosthetics with better-than-human powers.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

Gold Nanomembranes Resist Bending in New Experiment

What it is: For the first time, scientists have recorded the first direct measurement of resistance to bending in a nanoscale membrane. Working with gold nanomembrane 10,000 times thinner than a sheet of paper, researchers discovered that the nanomembrane was over 100 times more resistant to bending than their predictions.

Why it's important: This finding enables researchers to develop new nano-sized materials, objects and machines that are stronger, more flexible and customizable than previously imagined.

Spotted by Ian Pitchford

GE CEO Jeff Immelt on How the Industrial Internet is Helping Slash Downtime

What it is: An interview with Jeff Immelt in which he describes GE's Industrial Internet initiatives. Predix, Brilliant Factory and Digital Power Plant are all mentioned for their abilities to cut down on unplanned downtime using networked sensors. Immelt also shares excellent nuggets of insight on how GE envisions using robots, virtual reality and drones in industry.

Why it's important: By focusing on products and services tailored to the needs of historically slower-moving legacy industries, GE positions itself as a guide to the future, and a trusted authority on tapping into the tremendous power of exponential technologies.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

A New Way to Fight Aging in the Brain

What it is: Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have taken skin cells from donors of different ages and transformed them into brain cells that reflect their donors' ages. This is the first time researchers have been able to creating aging human brain cells from older people's skin cells rather than from old brains.

Why it's important: This age-specific brain cell testing holds the keys to understanding how human neurons age -- and how we can reverse the effects of aging and eradicate diseases like ALS and Alzheimer's. Expansions of this cell-transforming technique might enable us to produce even more realistic 3D models of human organs.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic IT Technology Trends for 2016

What it is: At the Garner Symposium/ITxpo, Gartner Inc. highlighted the top 10 technology trends for 2016 that will shape digital business opportunities through 2020. The trends mentioned were the device mesh, ambient user experience, 3D printing materials, Information of Everything, advanced machine learning, autonomous agents and things, adaptive security architecture, advanced system architecture, mesh app and service architecture, and Internet of Things platforms.

Why it's important: Gartner's 2016 trends reflect a key prediction Peter made at A360: increasingly powerful computers will dematerialize into our ambient environment, empowered by networked sensors, cloud computing and machine learning advances.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

What is Abundance Insider?

This email is a briefing of the week's most compelling, abundance-enabling tech developments, curated by Marissa Brassfield in preparation for Abundance 360. Read more about A360 below.

Want more conversations like this?

At Abundance 360, Peter's 250-person executive mastermind, we teach the metatrends, implications and unfair advantages for entrepreneurs enabled by breakthroughs like those featured above. The program is highly selective and we're almost full, but we're still looking for a few final CEOs and entrepreneurs who want to change the world. You can apply here.

Know someone who would benefit from getting Abundance Insider? Send them to this link to sign up.

If you wish to stop receiving our emails or change your subscription options, please Manage Your Subscription
PHD Ventures , 800 Corporate Pointe, Culver City, CA 90230

Fwd: ray’s wildest prediction

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:	ray's wildest prediction
Date:	Sun, 11 Oct 2015 10:04:36 -0700
From:	Peter Diamandis <peter@diamandis.com>
Reply-To:	peter@diamandis.com
To:	STeve <stevescott@techacq.com>

I consider Ray Kurzweil a very close friend and a very smart person.

Ray is a brilliant technologist, futurist, and director of engineering at Google focused on AI and language processing.

He has also made more correct (and documented) technology predictions about the future than anyone:

As reported, "of the 147 predictions that Kurzweil has made since the 1990's, fully 115 of them have turned out to be correct, and another 12 have turned out to be "essentially correct" (off by a year or two), giving his predictions a stunning 86% accuracy rate."

Two weeks ago, Ray and I held an hour-long webinar with my Abundance 360 CEOs about predicting the future.

During our session, there was one of Ray's specific prediction that really blew my mind.

"In the 2030s," said Ray, "we are going to send nano-robots into the brain (via capillaries) that will provide full immersion virtual reality from within the nervous system and will connect our neocortex to the cloud. Just like how we can wirelessly expand the power of our smartphones 10,000-fold in the cloud today, we'll be able to expand our neocortex in the cloud."

Let's digest that for a moment.

2030 is only 15 years away…

Directly plugging your brain into the internet? Upgrading your intelligence and memory capacity by orders of magnitude?

This is a blog about the staggering (and fun) implications of that future.

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The Basics

The implications of a connected neocortex are quite literally unfathomable. As such, any list I can come up with will pale in comparison to reality… But here are a few thoughts to get the ball rolling.

Brain-to-Brain Communication

This will deliver a new level of human intimacy, where you can truly know what your lover, friend or child is feeling. Intimacy far beyond what we experience today by mere human conversation. Forget email, texting, phone calls, and so on – you'll be able to send your thoughts to someone simply by thinking them.

Google on the Brain

You'll have the ability to "know" anything you desire, at the moment you want to know it. You'll have access to the world's information at the tip of your neurons. You'll be able to calculate complex math equations in seconds. You'll be able to navigate the streets of any cities, intuitively. You'll be able to hop into a fighter jet and fly it perfectly. You'll be able to speak and translate any language effortlessly.

Scalable Intelligence

Just imagine that you're in a bind and you need to solve a problem (quickly). In this future world, you'll be able to scale up the computational power of your brain on demand, 10x or 1,000x… in much the same way that algorithms today can spool up 1,000 processor cores on Amazon Web Servers.

Living in the Virtual World

If our brains can truly connect at high bandwidth, you will be able to bypass our current sensory organs (eyes, ears, touch) to the point where brain's perception of reality can be driven completely by a gaming engine – a virtual world. Likewise, the connections would exist in the motor cortex of your brain as well. When you move your limbs, imagine a corresponding set of virtual limbs (your avatar) moving perfectly in the virtual world. This is about creation of The Matrix x 1,000.

Extended Immune System

In my webinar discussion with Ray, he outlined how we already have intelligent biological devices, the size of blood cells, that kill disease. They are called T-cells. They can recognize an enemy and attack it, but they don't work on cancer, retroviruses, et cetera. In the future, nanorobots will be able to communicate wirelessly, download software when new pathogens arrives, and attack cancer, cancer stem cells, bacteria, viruses, and all the disease agents. They can also work on metabolic diseases like diabetes. They could also maintain healthy levels of everything you need in the blood, including nutrients, and basically repair and eventually replace damaged organs.

Downloadable Expertise

Remember the scene in The Matrix where Trinity needs to learn how to fly a helicopter, and Tank downloads a program teaching her how to do it? We'll be able to do this. Need to perform emergency surgery? Just download the ER doctor program. Need to learn a new language? Download it. Want to cook the perfect meal? Download the chef module. In fact, you probably won't even need to download it (which takes up memory), you'll probably just "stream" expertise from the cloud.

Expanded and Searchable Memories

We'll be able to remember everything that ever happened to us (because we'll store our memories in the cloud), and we'll be able to search that memory database for useful information. When our memories will become searchable, we'll also be able to make them contextual by cross-referencing our calendars, GPS coordinates, health data, stock market, current news, weather conditions, and anything else that might be relevant to that particular moment in time.

A Higher-Order Existence

Ray talks about how a connected neocortex will bring humanity to a higher order of existence and complexity – expanding our palate for emotion, art, humor, creativity, expression, and uniqueness. He says, "We're going to be funnier. We're going to be sexier. We're going to be better at expressing loving sentiment. We're going to add more levels to the hierarchy of brain modules and create deeper levels of expression. People will be able to very deeply explore some particular type of music in far greater degree than we can today. It'll lead to far greater individuality, not less."

Join Me

While this future may sound fanciful to many, let's remember that exponential technologies are initially deceptive, before they become disruptive.

And today, there are many labs around the world working on molecular machinery, CRISPR/Cas9 systems that allow us to edit our own genome, and brain-computer interfaces (through cortical implants and the field of optogenetics).

So what if these fields of technological progress double every 18 months? In 15 years (2015 - 2030), we will have a 1,000-fold improvement over today. What does a future one thousand times better look like? Perhaps it's what Ray describes…

If this future becomes reality, connected humans are going to change everything…

We need to discuss the implications in order to make the right decisions now so that we are prepared for the future.

This is the sort of conversation we explore at my 250-person executive mastermind group called Abundance 360.

The program is highly selective and currently full. If you'd like to be considered for the waitlist, we are looking for a few last CEOs and entrepreneurs who want to change the world. We imagine a few spots will open up over the next few months. You can apply here.

Share this with your friends, especially if they are interested in any of the areas outlined above.

P.S. Every week I send out a "Tech Blog" like this one. If you want to sign up, go to Diamandis.com and sign up for this and Abundance Insider.

P.P.S. I've just released a podcast with my dear friend Dan Sullivan called Exponential Wisdom. Our conversations focus on the exponential technologies creating abundance, the human-technology collaboration, and entrepreneurship. Head here to listen and subscribe: a360.com/podcast

If you wish to stop receiving our emails or change your subscription options, please Manage Your Subscription
PHD Ventures , 800 Corporate Pointe, Culver City, CA 90230

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Fwd: 14 Cold Emailing Principles

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:	14 Cold Emailing Principles
Date:	Fri, 9 Oct 2015 07:17:02 -0400 (EDT)
From:	Bryan Kreuzberger <bryan.kreuzberger@breakthroughemail.com>
To:	stevescott@techacq.com

Steve,   Most sales blogs and articles are full of tactics. It is great to know what to do, but it is more important to know why they do it. To learn you need to understand the principles behind the tactic. Here are 14 principles on cold emailing.   And if you have questions, just email me.   1. Fish in the right lake. Find companies that are already motivated to buy from you. To find motivated companies identify the trigger events and scenarios that will lead them to purchase. One of the seven methods in our training is to contact the competitors of your best customers. They fit the same profile as your customer and are much more likely to buy from you.   2. Contact buyers. Don't contact someone who doesn't have the authority to make a decision. Make sure you are only contacting the buyer, or the people above the buyer.   3. Target top down. When contacting people in an organization start at the top and work your way down to the buyer. Owners delegate and employees want to look good for their boss. Use this leverage and social pressure to your advantage.   4. Have empathy. Place yourself in the customer's shoes and think what they are feeling. The customer doesn't care about you. When sales people write emails, they write from their perspective too often. Don't do this. Write from the perspective of your customer.   5. Establish credibility. Since you don't know the customer you are contacting and they don't know your company, establish credibility. They may not know you, but they will know companies you have worked with. Include names of your clients or broad credibility statements. And be specific. An example of a credibility statement for us would be Breakthrough Email has helped 25,246 sales people generate $85 million in sales.   6. Build trust. Don't be deceitful or manipulative. Make sure your subject line reflects or describes the content of the email. For example: "14 Cold Email Principles."   7. Write a personalized email to a single human. Don't spam the same template to hundreds of people. (I've tested it. It doesn't work.)   8. Make it easy to read. When you write, be clear and make it easy to read for the other person. Read the email out loud, and listen to your voice. If it sounds funny, edit it.   9. Write like your customer talks. Meet the customer in their mind. Use the language and phrases your customer says. To find the right phrases, interview your clients.   Don't use acronyms, abbreviations or jargon that are common to your profession. You make it difficult for the other person to understand.   10. Say something. After reading your email the customer should understand what you do, how it works and how you can help them. Above all else explain the ways you might be able to help.   People who say "keep it short" don't always know what to say. If the customer is asking for more information, you weren't clear.   11. Fall in love your customer, not your process. They don't care about what you do, they care how you can help them. What fears, frustrations and desires do you typically solve for your customers?   12. Make a clear ask. Whatever you are asking the customer to do, make sure they know what to do, and make sure the request is simple. Don't ask them to go to your website, download an attachment and reply. Make one request.   13. Be in the top 2%. To get a response from the customer, aim to be in the top 2% of all emails they receive that month. Set a higher standard for yourself. It doesn't take much to be noticed.   14. Follow up. If you don't get a response, follow up. 60-70% of the responses happen when you follow up. Be persistent, but respectful.   Finally, when writing a cold email, think of it like dating. A person won't be interested in you if you talk all about yourself and then pressure them to make a "sale."   Best, Bryan Kreuzberger And if you have any questions, just email me.   Coaching | Jobs | Sales Training   If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click the link below: Unsubscribe Someway Media LLC 195 Plymouth St Brooklyn, New York 11201 United States

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Fwd: Abundance Insider: October 9 Edition

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:	Abundance Insider: October 9 Edition
Date:	Fri, 9 Oct 2015 12:04:45 -0700
From:	Peter Diamandis <peter@diamandis.com>
Reply-To:	peter@diamandis.com
To:	STeve <stevescott@techacq.com>

In this week's Abundance Insider: Huggable robots, artificial arteries and auto-retuning prosthetics.

Cheers,
Peter, Marissa, Cody, Maxx, Kelley and Greg

P.S. Send any tips to data@diamandis.com, and send your friends and family to this link to subscribe to Abundance Insider.

Disney App Renders Coloring Book Pages As 3D Images

What it is: Disney Research has developed an app that transforms your colored-in pages into 3D animations, using an iPad with a camera. The augmented reality project has a "virtual spring system" that guesses what an incomplete 2D drawing would look like in 3D.

Why it's important: Last week, we covered Disney's investment in Jaunt VR. With this augmented reality coloring book, it's clear that the House of Mouse is focusing intensely on how tech can enhance a variety of in-person experiences with its brand.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

IBM Engineers Carbon Nanotube Transistors to Replace Silicon in Computing

What it is: IBM recently announced a breakthrough in creating transistors out of carbon nanotubes, enabling the development of a highly efficient carbon nanotube chip within the decade. Such a technology would not only uphold Moore's Law, it would also supercharge high-performance computers and mobile devices, increasing power, battery life and performance all around.

Why it's important: As an alternative to silicon-based chips, IBM's carbon nanotube breakthrough makes cloud data centers to deliver their services more economically and efficiently, powers the Internet of Everything, and accelerates Big Data analysis.

Spotted by Peter Diamandis

Cheaper and Smarter: Blowing Up College With Nanodegrees

What it is: Massively open online course (MOOC) company Udacity has partnered with Google to provide what it calls "nanodegrees" -- smaller courses of study focused on a specific subject, like iOS coding. Unlike traditional four-year degrees, a nanodegree will take a just few months and about $1,000 to complete. In India, Udacity has partnered with Tata to recognize Udacity nanodegrees when hiring.

Why it's important: Nanodegrees are an alternative to higher education -- one that dematerializes the standard degree in favor of custom-created bundles of topical knowledge. As the nature of work and in-demand capabilities change, we'll need to constantly evolve our skills and upgrade our knowledge -- and nanodegrees offer an efficient, cost-effective way to do so.

Spotted by Gary Monroe

Scientists Develop Algorithm That Lets Artificial Legs Re-Tune Themselves on the Fly

What it is: Bioengineers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a software algorithm that automatically tunes powered artificial limbs as the limb-wearer walks throughout the day. The algorithm enables prosthetic limbs to compensate for short-term changes in gait (carrying a suitcase through an airport, balancing a baby on a hip) in real time, and then revert to normal.

Why it's important: Intelligent prosthetics are more comfortable, lifelike and useful for the wearer. Exoskeletons equipped with this algorithm would similarly supercharge workers and help them adapt to challenging, ever-changing conditions.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

World Bank Forecasts Global Poverty to Fall Below 10% for First Time

What it is: World Bank has just released projections that the number of people living in extreme poverty around the world will fall to under 10 percent of the global population in 2015. Using an updated international poverty line of $1.90 US per day, as well as new country-level data on living standards, global poverty will have fallen from 902 million people (12.8 percent of the 2012 global population) to 702 million people (9.6 percent of the global population) this year.

Why it's important: These findings support Peter's Abundance thesis that by 2030, we will be able to end poverty and ultimately provide the basic needs of every man, woman and child on the planet.

Spotted by Sarah Black

Elon Musk and SolarCity Unveil 'World's Most Efficient' Solar Panel

What it is: Elon Musk and SolarCity have introduced a new rooftop solar panel that achieves a peak efficiency of 22.04 percent -- making it the world's most efficient solar panel. The panels are the same size as traditional solar panels, but produce 30 to 40 percent more power, and with better performance in high temperatures. Next year, SolarCity expects to produce as many as 10,000 solar panels a day out of its 1 gigawatt factory in Buffalo.

Why it's important: Evidence that solar energy is continuing its exponential power performance growth as costs continue to plummet.

Spotted by Eli Call

Disney's New 3D Printed Skin Makes Robots Softer and Safer for Children

What it is: Disney Research has developed a 3D printed soft "skin" and touch system for toy robots that gives them a sort of airbag system protecting the robot's internal frame. Pressure feedback-equipped robots can instantly detect airbag pressure increases and adjust torque accordingly -- making such robots more damage-resistant and, of course, huggable for children.

Why it's important: This development enables soft yet durable educational toy robots -- a boon for fans of Disney films like Big Hero 6, Wall-E and Star Wars. This is also a developing case study on how big companies innovate: We're increasingly seeing the results of Disney's heavy investment into exponential technologies like robotics, 3D printing and virtual reality.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

How Robots Can Learn New Tasks by Observing

What it is: University of Maryland researchers have created a "robot training academy" that turns industrial robots into attentive students. "We ask an expert to show the robot a task, and let the robot figure out most parts of sequences of things it needs to do, and then fine-tune things to make it work," explained Yezhou Yang. The same researchers previously showed that a robot can learn how to perform tasks by watching thousands of YouTube videos.

Why it's important: Yang says that at many companies, it takes six or more weeks to reprogram a robot. Converging advancements in AI and computing accelerate, simplify and scale industrial robot training; accordingly, it won't be long before we can train our own home robots using natural language.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

Elon Musk claims a Tesla with a 600-mile Range Will Be Available by 2017

What it is: In a recent interview with Danish media, Elon Musk made a bold prediction: by 2017, Tesla will have the right powertrain and battery technology to offer a model with an electric range of 1,000 km (over 600 miles), and that a range of 745 miles is possible by 2020. Another fun nugget: by the end of this year, an automated passing function could make it into Tesla vehicles.

Why it's important: As battery technology continues to improve, we'll see vast mileage improvements in electric cars; soon, the idea of "range anxiety" will be a distant memory. We're also watching Tesla help consumers navigate the gradual transition to fully autonomous vehicles.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

Mini Brains for Testing Drugs Cost Just 25 Cents

What it is: Want a miniature, working brain to experiment with stem cells or test drugs? It'll cost you a quarter, thanks to Brown University researchers. They turned a small sample of living tissue from a single rodent into thousands of mini-brains, each one-third of a millimeter in diameter. While these mini-brains can't "think," per se, they do produce electrical signals and form synapses -- perfect for neuroscience research.

Why it's important: This relatively easy, affordable in vitro brain model could dramatically reduce animal use in testing. It also demonetizes and democratizes access to neural tissue, which in turn empowers smaller research labs.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

Quantum Computing: First Two-Qubit Logic Gate in Silicon

What it is: Researchers at the University of New South Wales have revealed the first two-qubit logic gate in silicon, thus clearing the way for silicon quantum computers. The UNSW researchers reconfigured the transistors in silicon chips into qubits, using the same basic manufacturing technology used in today's computer industry. "We believe [this process] will [make it] much easier to manufacture a full-scale processor chip than for any of the leading designs, which rely on more exotic technologies," says Andrew Dzurak.

Why it's important: Quantum computers will dramatically accelerate artificial intelligence and Big Data analysis. For context on qubits, MIT professor Seth Lloyd said earlier this year that a machine of just 300 qubits could be used to map the entire universe -- every piece of information that's existed since the Big Bang.

Spotted by Ian Pitchford

Forget Driverless Cars, China Just Put a Massive Self-Driving Bus on the Road

What it is: Yutong, a leading Chinese bus manufacturer, recently sent a self-driving city bus on a 20-mile ride through Zhengzhou. The prototype bus passed other cars, changed lanes and responded to lights at a top speed of 42 miles per hour -- without incident.

Why it's important: This is the world's first successful trial of a self-driving bus -- and it didn't happen in North America. A promising glimpse into the future of autonomous mass transit.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

NASA study: Flying Air Taxis Could Be as Cheap as an Uber Ride, and Faster

What it is: A new NASA study indicates that a flying air taxi could one day be as inexpensive as an Uber ride -- and get you to your destination three times faster. Mark Moore, chief technologist for on-demand mobility at NASA's Langley Research Center, presented a scenario for an area of Silicon Valley where air taxis could travel for about $1.50 per mile and achieve a ground-speed travel rate of 63 mph to 122 mph.

Why it's important: Moore specifically cites the Uber model as a door-to-door system for air taxis, saying, "It's hard to beat that economic model." Converging technologies (batteries, materials science), as well as a number of companies working on distributed electric propulsion aircraft, make this "crazy idea" feasible.

Spotted by Peter Diamandis

Self-Assembling Material Could Lead to Artificial Arteries

What it is: Queen Mary University of London researchers have developed self-assembling organic molecules that form a dynamic tissue, which they can guide to grow into complex shapes -- without 3D printing or molds. KurzweilAI reports that this finding allows scientists to "...study Alzheimer's with a high level of similarity to the real tissue and create better implants, complex tissues and more effective drug-screening methods."

Why it's important: This is a major development in synthetic tissue creation, with tremendous implications on medical research. Imagine being able to grow tissues from scratch that mimic synthetic arteries, veins or the blood-brain barrier -- either for study or treatment.

Spotted by Marissa Brassfield

What is Abundance Insider?

This email is a briefing of the week's most compelling, abundance-enabling tech developments, curated by Marissa Brassfield in preparation for Abundance 360. Read more about A360 below.

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