Earning the right to talk to customers: rethinking the way we do business [Wired 2013]

New business models, along with the technology that enables them, mean that if your livelihood is dependent on selling anything, you need to do some serious adapting if you’re going to survive. Session two of Wired 2013’s second day explored what that might currently entail.

Yancey Strickler from Kickstarter opened the session with a discussion about the culture at the world’s largest crowdfunding platform (70 employees, working above a dive bar, lower east side of New York) it’s pretty gritty. Originally a rock critic, Strickler talked about how he fell into Kickstarter because of the value exchange between people.

Only four and a half years old and with around 350 projects submitted a day (50 000 of which have been successfully funded so far) — it’s on track to make US$1-billion by the end of 2014. It’s staggering to hear the growth and the processes behind how such a business grows. Strickler has a clear vision but not without rules.

Clearly not a fan of advertising, Strickler believes “everyone is a peer, you are just sharing an idea”. It’s an openness that is throughout Kickstarter’s ethos and future — in essence it is “trying to create a universe around principles that are important…to work from that place.” One thing’s for sure, it has a vision and a set of rules it adheres to. It’s simple, it works and it’s changing the world.

The takeaway: Stay on topic. Strickler believes the success of Kickstarter and core goal of any site is because of this. Ending the discussion, Strickler closed with the truism “People are really good at spotting bullshit.” Can’t argue with that.

Second up was Nicholas Lovell, author of The Curve, a fascinating gentleman whose book talks about charging people a lot more for your digital project.

Before you read on, watch this:

Previously an investment banker, Lovell cares a lot about whether art (including games, music, etc) will continue to get made as things trend towards the freemium model. He firmly believes people don’t want to pirate and that we need to figure out how to beat the competition instead. His message is clear; find your superfans and turn your free consumers into buyers. In essence, you rarely know who your best customers will be. An interesting stat Lovell imparted to solidify this idea was that 70% of people who have completed all levels on Candy Crush have never paid anything to King.

The takeaway: You have to earn the right to communicate with your consumer again. Businesses need to start focusing their content strategy and focus on getting people to connect again.

Closing the session was Ellen MacArthur, who has sailed around the world and now runs her foundation to accelerate the transition to rethinking and redesigning the future. She spoke passionately about her understanding of sustainability and finite resources aboard the various boats before she segued into talking about business models linked to conveyor-belt systems or “linear economy”. We need system level changes — a mind shift to design for disassembly.

The takeaway: It’s not about buying the planet (or business) time, it’s about rethinking what we do — not to use less but think differently — a more circular thinking so we make things better.