Updated 1 Oct 2025 from my sunny home in Nelson, New Zealand.
Market creating innovations
New products or services that make something expensive or complex much simpler and more affordable can be the key to addressing global poverty. These “disruptive” (or outright crazy!) innovations turn non-consumers into consumers and create entirely new markets. Think Henry Ford with the Model T, Mo Ibrahim with Airtel cellphone networks in Africa and now, Open AI with ChatGPT.
I was inspired by speaking to Efosa Ojomo, co-author of the book Prosperity Paradox with Clayton Christensen on what I intuitively sense to be true. So much more to explore.
Humanity in AI
I found career success in user experience. The user interface has mostly been visual and flat screen for the last 20 years, but now - anything goes!
Language is a primary user interface for humans, and AI has cracked it. Beyond the mechanical level of a mundane interface is the higher order of interaction between human and machines, humans and humans mediated by machines and even between machines.
Designers, user researchers and product managers have a currently unrecognised, but critical role in integrating humanity’s values into AI’s transformation of our world. I’m enjoying playing my part in helping Optimal shape this future with our partners.
Understanding “the other side”
“How can they possibly think or believe that?”
This has crossed my mind far to many times recently, but perhaps a better question is “Why do I think I’m so right?”, or “What’s my goal here?”. Is it to feel good that I’m on the right side, and they’re on the wrong side? Or is it to do what it takes to build a better world, whatever it takes?
Pick your issue, be it social, political, environmental or relational. It’s hard to be less dualistic; simplistically separating right from wrong. It’s harder still to be open to the idea I might be wrong, or at the very least, a pretty lousy listener.
Courageous giving
Problems are accelerating at an unprecedented pace. Climate change, inequality, and systemic challenges compound faster than our responses can address them.
Yet, most philanthropic resources flow toward established approaches with predictable outcomes. This creates an acceleration gap - the widening space between how quickly problems evolve and how rapidly we deploy solutions.
With modest means, I’m exploring possibilities in courageous giving to support ways we can dramatically accelerate impact.
Problem Atlas
Einstein allegedly quipped that given 60 minutes to solve a problem, he’d spend 55 minutes understanding the problem and 5 minutes on the solution.
The world is such a complex, interconnected and constantly changing system, we’d need a lot of Einsteins and a lot more hours to even come close to understanding the problems. Yet, it seems strange we don’t really have a common way to express simplified models of how different problems all fit together. The Sustainable Development Goals is the closest thing we have, but it makes no attempt to suggest correlation or causation. And it’s a snapshot in time.
More importantly, how much effort is going into solving each problem relative to the expected benefit from solving that problem. Is the cost-benefit of electric cars as high as new forms of clean cooking?
Instead, we have a system where each cause is encouraged to shout louder about the importance of their cause over another. Is there a more structured way to find a better question to ask in order to better understand the problem to solve? How would Einstein be spending his 55 minutes?
Communities
I’m often victim to going fast and going alone. Maybe it’s age, or maybe I’m finally learning my lesson but I’m leaning into communities and going together.
I’m enjoying the cool people over at Founder’s Pledge, the zeal at Ambitious Impact / Charity Entrepreneurship and the incredible friends at Edmund Hillary Fellowship. I’m looking forward to meeting folks and learning from them at the Innovative Finance Initiative and dust off my profile at The Bloom.