My Big takeaways from Day 1 at #FFYB2016

Spending two insightful days in a room packed with entrepreneurs and enthusiasm can't fail to be uplifting;

Roger Hamilton's 2016 Fast Forward your Business event was held this week in the Aotea Centre. The event focused on sharing insights about key technological and social changes that businesspeople can embrace to modernize their operations and contribute new value through 2016 and beyond. It was a great privilege to have the opportunity to learn from so many inspired businesspeople. Here are a few key insights I've been thinking about from day 1 of the event;

1. Economies of speed trump economies of scale.

The ability to materialise thoughts into things popularised through initiatives such as digital creation and 3D printing create a significant business advantage for nimble, innovative companies to grow and expand rapidly, collecting customers and building a community at a much higher velocity that traditional corporations who hold scale and incumbency advantages. Roger has a great example in the growth of his own learning platform for Entrepreneurs, GeniusU which is now growing at 25,000 new signups per week. Success for business hangs on the ability to identify themes, products and solutions which customers want and entrepreneurially organise resources around these themes in a very rapid fashion to build a groundswell of interest and sales for success.

 2. Personalisation trumps standardisation

Roger has a great intergenerational analogy, remarking "You know how we giggle at our parents generation where everybody dressed the same, well our kids will giggle about us and the fact that we all used to drive around in the same cars." Enabling technology that allows individuals to create is heralding a new age of Artisanship in which people will place a greater value on a single 'life's work' than mass producing stardardised items for general consumption. In the world where everyone truly is an individual, businesses which accelerate will be those that can successfully invite the customer in to their development process to co-create (and presell) products before they come to market

 3. Your passion is your compass

The enterprise of the individual is dumping people out into a new landscape which is a very different landscape to that of the industrial era. An Entrepreneurial landscape where anything is possible, now. Thanks to today's collaboration and sourcing platforms, anyone can connect with the best in the world at any pursuit they desire creating unprecedented choice and opportunity.

The answer to navigating the problem of too much choice is to get to grips with your passions, your unique areas to add value, and your financial and social ability to work with and impact others around you. In this massive 3 dimensional pyramid, the best way to add value is to pick the passion you want to follow, and learn the most effective ways to advance that passion (in your world of work) through tools such as Roger's Wealth Dynamics square which identifies 8 different unique profiled approaches that people can add value most effectively.

 4. Being part of a trusted community trumps being marketed to

Traditional models of marketing (and selling) are dwindling in effectiveness as the power of customer-invested co-creation and the power of the 'Trust Economy' gains momentum. Content marketing has been done to the point of consumer overwhelm. People not longer value content and expect it for free.

The value has shifted to the opportunity to offer experience. Crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter offer people an opportunity to become co-creators in
products while investment platforms like Snowball effect allow people to contribute funding and skills to growing companies like mini-Dragon's Den moguls. The point is that marketing needs to be completely redeveloped starting with the consumer in mind from the ground up.

 5. Remember that Clark Kent makes the money for Superman

Many people (especially those in this audience) have been fortunate enough to develop a clear vision of the difference that they want to make in the world, but vision without grounding is ineffective. All todays businesses need to start by looking for the problems of individuals today, and then finding out the value that can be created through solving those problems. 'Wherever there is a queue, there is an opportunity'. Identifying those problems that you can become passionately involved with and enrol customers in building the solution is key to success in today's business environment. When you prove you have the capability to create a base, you can extend to helping others and being a greater contributor in the economy, Superman. Another of Roger's related analogies is about wanting to join a performance yacht crew. Before you can be successful in the crew you need to be able to prove that you can swim. Unless you have the most important base aspects sorted, you can't make an effective contribution to the team.

Roger's wealth parable "Wink and Grow Rich" has had a huge effect on my thinking and it was a great privilege to be able to spent two days with the wealth creator and a network of positive and achieving kiwis in Auckland. See my feed @gfiner and #FFYB2016 for more experiences & impressions.

For my friends in other cities on the 2016 tour I thoroughly recommend booking time out in your diary to participate, network and learn at the event!