The "unbundling" of Microsoft Office and Google Workspace has been one of the most important tech trends of the past decade.
Elegant, best-in-class products have won with product-led, bottom-up go-to-market motions.
Thread below 👇
1/ In 1990, Microsoft reinvented work productivity tools with its Office suite.
In the 30 years since, Office has grown to 1.2 billion workers. Once-groundbreaking products like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint have become synonymous with knowledge work.
2/ In 2006, Google launched G Suite (now called Google Workspace).
Google Docs, Sheets, etc. reinvented work again by introducing real-time cloud collaboration.
How Google squandered its lead in productivity / collaboration tools I will never understand 🤦♂️
3/ Over the past decade, beautiful and consumer-like products like @NotionHQ, @figmadesign, and @Pitch have won over workers. They've eschewed traditional top-down enterprise sales (initially) in favor of product-led, bottom-up growth.
4/ Microsoft Office and Google Workspace were always horizontal tools for all knowledge workers.
Now we're seeing tools purpose-built for different functions.
6/ The future of work is real-time, collaborative, design-first, and bottom-up.
The 1.2 billion workers using Microsoft Office will choose the best and most consumer-friendly tools in the market, with each job function getting its own purpose-built tool.
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Technology and regulatory changes are both making investing more accessible.
At the same time, we're seeing a massive shift in the cultural mindset from "renting" time to thinking like an equity holder.
Thread 👇
1/ Until the past few years, you had to make over $200K a year or have a net worth over $1M to make angel investments. The rules were incredibly restrictive.
The SEC recently changed the rules to make angel investing more accessible (though still not available to everyone yet).
2/ As a result, we're starting to see more venture rounds include employees, creators, customers, and everyday people:
NoPixel is the most fascinating virtual world on the internet.
NoPixel is a role-playing game in Grand Theft Auto. You have to apply to get in, and you must stay in character the whole time.
Here's how it works 👇
1/ First, you create your character. You customize your hair, your clothing, your accessories.
Then you fill out an application. You answer questions in character, like "You’ve found what looks like a random car in the street with a load of drugs inside. What do you do and why?”
2/ The goal of role-play is to create an immersive experience—basically to create a realistic, robust virtual world.
At all times in NoPixel, you must talk and act as your character.
During the pandemic, unemployment in the Philippines hit 40%.
Thousands of Filipinos without jobs—like Howard, pictured here—turned to blockchain-based online games as a way to make money.
Here's how it happened 👇
It started with Axie Infinity, a popular blockchain game with cartoonish creatures called Axies.
Axie is what’s called a play-to-earn game: if you win battles you earn a resource called Small Love Potion. You can exchange SLP for the cryptocurrency ETH & then convert to dollars.
This man used to drive a taxi, but he had no customers during COVID.
He started playing Axie and making up to ~$300 a month. For reference, minimum wage in the Philippines is about $170 per month.