142. The chance to invent a new Google is now

Dear Erik,

I occasionally hear people say about successful entrepreneurs that ‘if only I had known this before’ or ‘I would have done that much better’ or ‘I also had this idea’ or ‘what luck these guys have’ or ‘why didn’t I have that idea?’ or ‘why does this never happen to me?’ or ‘I just never have good fortune’ or ‘everything just comes naturally to some people’. A lament about how they did not realize their secretly dreamed of successes. Because whether you choose to admit or deny or it, we all have (or had) our limitless dreams about huge successes. Only for most people this remains a dream and the reason for this lies in ourselves and has nothing to do with the possibilities that life offers to everyone.

I will give an example. It’s called ‘The Internet of Things’ from ‘The Things Network’. An initiative which originated in Amsterdam and heralds the third and even greater development of the Internet. It is groundbreaking and will lead to the emergence of new giants, whose impact will be even greater than Google, Facebook and all the companies who now are so intriguing and inspiring.

And what is beautiful is that to take full advantage of this development, everyone is on time if they get in now. If you look into it, you can be one of those with a billion dollar company within a couple of years (if you stick to what you do well – and you just have to read these columns for advice on this). But the chance that you will act on this opportunity and will persevere is negligible. And I think I know why you will not take action.

You currently do not understand anything about it and do not have the motivation to investigate,
You are not convinced that you can create a million or billion dollar business,
Even if you do some research, you will not have the perseverance to overcome all the obstacles,
Most people will not see the possibilities of ‘The Internet of Things’ (until you see successful applications and you think ‘I could have thought of this’).

Most people don’t see a pot of gold even if they stumble over it. Most people trample on the seed that can grow into a Google or Facebook without realizing it. They too can start a world-changing development. And certainly not everyone is dreaming of successes of this size. But we all have dreams of success, whatever these successes ay be. And we really can make our dreams come true. All of them. All of us.

I am very curious who will turn the ‘Internet of Things’ into a success story. I will keep you informed of my ‘Internet of Things’. I have already contacted a number of key people to present them with my ideas for an application for ‘The Internet of Things’ for ‘The Internet of People’. And I can hardly sleep with excitement.

Sincerely,

Gerard