Welcome to this 86th issue of our newsletter “Weak Signals and other Trends”. Each week, I sift through hundreds of sources of inspiration to track where we’re heading. If you are a new subscriber to this newsletter, take the time to send me a note and introduce yourself, I love to understand who is reading.
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I am sending this newsletter this Friday from Montreal, Canada. This is the last newsletter of the year. I’ll resume in 2023 with slight change of schedule, as I’ll move to a bi-monthly version. This is what I noticed this week, thank you for sharing this newsletter with those who look into the future.
I wish you all an excellent new year 2023 🙏
Estelle.
Competitive Intelligence
Reddit is a rich hub of incredibly specific information. Satellite observation imagery tool that allows for on-the-fly searching. Masto searches for the users Mastodon by name and collects information about them. A simple tool for analyzing twitter conversations. LinkedIn enumeration tool to extract valid employee names from an organization through search engine scraping. Quick access for more than 85 tools for gathering information about company and company website, location and sector.
We have scheduled the dates for 2023 for our courses. “Advanced Search Techniques for Competitive and Customer Intelligence” will be offered on February 15, 2023. Registrations are now open.
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots.
As farmers pay more for water due to drought, vegetable prices are up 80%+ YoY. Selfridges set a target of 45% of its transactions to be 'circular' - e.g. resale, rental, repair. The collapse of insects. How an MSG seasoning company became a serious player in the semiconductor industry
Our future
The airport of the future might look like this. The US could be funding mining overseas. Singapore approved the commercial sale CO2-derived protein powder, Solein: Made from CO2 and renewable electricity it divorces food from agriculture and climate. "Functional experiences" are the future of the Experience Economy. People are hiring out their faces to become deepfake-style marketing clones.
End of 2022 reports: Ten foods we said farewell to in 2022. 10 AI Predictions For 2023. 422 predictions for 2023. The world ahead 2023.
We keep you updated on those trends and more on Twitter.
Weak signals
Weak signals are indicators of a change, a trend or an emerging risk that might become significant for the future. They allow us to run hypothesis, expand our thinking, and challenge assumptions. How will you interpret those in your industry or field of expertise?
Used, 11-year-old Woolpower sweater wins Scandinavian Outdoor Award. Nature rinsing is our way to cope with climate anxiety. Gig workers are raking up victories. The SEC charged eight influencers with leveraging their social media followings to commit securities fraud to the tune of $100m. Pfizer plans to up the price of its covid vaccine by 400%, a 10k% markup from estimated manufacturing cost. Arby's Has Wrapping Paper That Smells Like Meat. EY offered all of its 300,000+ employees a free Masters in Sustainability. Bubble tea and choices. VinFast arrives on U.S. shores.
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that lead me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors: “A rabbit hole is not a distraction. A rabbit hole is your brain trying to tell you to pay attention to something you’re curious about. Ignore algorithmic rabbit holes” ( by are.na)
This week, I discovered the work of Dries Depoorter.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
I like new words. This week, I discovered mechanical sympathy. Practicing architectural disobedience. Analysing the aerodynamics of the fastest ever marathon. Falling Short of the Stars: The crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. The Wartime Spies Who Used Knitting as an Espionage Tool. The toughest material on Earth. Finding the stealth jet.
Numbers
10- Fees from music playing on Peloton are “a top 10 account for pretty much all major record labels right now.”
400- Total value the European tech industry has lost in 2022: 400 billion
50- The National Wildlife Federation said that 2020 saw a 50 percent increase in the number of people creating NWF-certified wildlife gardens.
1/4 - one fourth of millenials are living with their parents .
Feeling good
Useless inventions. The infinite canvas. Everyone draws. European grid dispute resolved, lost 6 minutes returned to oven clocks . On airline mapping. Sound.
Photo: our beautiful city Montreal in the winter, by Estelle Metayer
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