I've recently learned about some new sources for watching trends, new ideas, new business concepts and similar stuff.
Springwise
Springwise calls themselves the global new business ideas newsletter. They publish monthly.
If you click on the sample newsletter you can subscribe via RSS*. Or they will e-mail it to you.
Out of the current issue, the example about Benjys caught my eye -- the reinvention of the coffee truck, bringing a better food experience to industrial parks. I remember eating white-bread sandwiches and overheated coffee one summer in my youth; this looks like a big improvement.
Trendspotter
Trendspotter is a monthly newsletter of consumer trends.
The RSS button is located right on the main page, or you can sign up for the e-mail version.
In the current issue, I liked their discussion about Minipreneurs. These are individuals that are finding ways to make money using their own creativity. There's the army of E-Bay people, of course, but many other forms as well, including support industries.
Smart Economy
Walter Derzko, who has been commenting on the new technology space for a long time, has written a book, and now has a blog to support it. An article about flexible cement was one of the pieces that caught my eye. If you're not a real techno-phile, you may find this material heavy going. True geeks , and the black-helicopter crowd should find plenty of good stuff here.
Tips on Reading this Stuff
The world is littered with examples of trends, technology and business concepts that looked cool enough to someone, but didn't turn into a success. I find you really have to turn on your sense of judgment to read this stuff, and not get caught up in "gee whiz" thinking.
Here are a few questions you can ask to keep the BS detector running:
- What problem does this solve for consumers or businesses?
- How many people have this problem?
- Can I envision myself using this thing?
- Can I envision my friends kids using this thing?
- What value would someone place on this?
- What distribution issues would this idea have to overcome?
*Too Much Information!
If you too would like to clean up your in-basket by converting to an RSS reader, just set up a Bloglines account and start subscribing. I find there is just too much e-mail clutter, and having an RSS reader makes it easy to browse when I have time and am bored, keeping my in-basket for actual communications from others.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Apoorv Dwivedi for bringing Springwise and Trendspotter to my attention, and to Walter Derzko for Smart Economy.
