DIGITAL. TRENDS. FUTURE.

30
Jun

A Global Startup Initiative On #SmartCities And #RoadSafety

In the run-up to our next startup contest in Montreal I’d like to give you explain details of the startup initiative and the last event held in Berlin, Germany.

The DLV ‘FIA Smart Cities Startup‘ is an international entrepreneurship contest for the world’s most innovative and impactful technology companies.

The next opportunity to become a “FIA Smart Cities Startup” will be at Montreal, Canada. Our global start competition will be held at the VIP hospitality area of the Formula E Race. The contest is held four times a year on four different continents, North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Next pitch event will be held end of July 2017 in Montreal City.

29
Jun

Custom Delegation Program for CxO’s to China and Japan

Our team at Digital Leaders recently did another executive immersion program to Tokyo, Japan and Beijing, China.

Custom Program for CxO’s to Asia’s technology centers

The participants of this custom program where high-level managers and mostly c-level executives from Europe. The managers got unique insights from leading innovators, technology companies and digital disruptors of Asia. The group met face-to-face with technology leaders in Beijing and Tokyo. Such an immersion program is a special experience from the moment the delegates arrive at the airport until they flight back to their hometown. During the week the participants visited some of the most innovative companies to explore the hottest technology trends and strategies for digital transformation.

Immersion Program to Asia – Accelerating Innovation

Digital Leaders supports global corporations accelerate innovation by connecting them to technology companies in tech hubs like Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul or Silicon Valley. Executive managers learn from startups, leading digital companies and thought leaders during our fully customised and unique innovation tours, learning journeys, executive immersion programs, corporate strategy sessions, special startup showcases, innovation labs and product demos. Customers of Digital Leaders include Fortune 500 companies, Nasdaq or DAX companies, CEOs, Chief Digital Officers, board directors of multi-billion dollar corporations, corporate executives, business owners, venture investors and government leaders.

The team also published an example agenda and other details about these exclusive programs at http://www.digitalleaders.co/tours/

28
Jun

G20 Summit – Digitalisation: Policies for a Digital Future #G20Digital

In the run-up to the G20 Summit in Hamburg Germany, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy organised a G20 Multi Stakeholder Conference. The title of the leadership conference was “Digitalisation: Policies for a Digital Future” and it was held on 6 April 2017 in Duesseldorf, Germany. An interesting line-up of keynote speakers, though leaders and government officials where discussion the key drivers of digital transformation.

Particularly there had been three key areas of interest:
1. Shaping digitalisation at a global level – leveraging the potential for growth and employment
2. Digital networking for industrial value creation – developing international standards
3. Creating transparency – enhancing trust in the digital world

I had been invited to attend the G20 Digital Conference as a delegate and a special private side-event by the World Economic Forum. Here is a short video summary:

#G20Digital #WEF #G20Germany

31
May

Global Technology Trends – A VC’s Perspective

Today is a fantastic time for Entrepreneurs and their Startups. The entrepreneurial opportunities are enormous as digital is transforming every industry globally. While technology companies are expanding into unchartered territory and disrupting traditional industries we already know that the next 5 years will usher more change than the previous 25 years. I had been invited as a keynote speaker to a startup conference this week to answer a simple question: what’s the next big thing?

As a VC we always have to look into the future and evaluate the most promising areas, talk to passionate founders, screen business plans everyday and then come up with a decision if we also believe in this new business opportunity or not.

In my speech I was presenting a positive vision of the future vision based on the key Global Technology Trends we currently see in the market.

Seven Principles Of Digital Diffusion

As digital technologies and connectivity become a commodity – like breathing air – the lines between analog and digital are blurring. Digital is part of every facet and element of our business and personal life. Algorithms, artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous cars, voice control, virtual reality or mixed reality, nano-sensors and ubiquitous information access are now part of the DNA of our modern society. This is what I call the concept of Digital Diffusion. Today you can’t be digital. You just be.

So, here are my Seven Principles of Digital Diffusion:

1. To fuel and empower our digital future, we need to re-think education. #EdTech

2. Rather than adapting us to the technology, we will now experience how computers will fully adapt to our needs and ultimately become invisible. #VoiceControl #VR #AR #UbiquitousComputing

3. As computer performance will outpace human capabilities hundredfold, we will discover how quickly industries will be transformed through artificial intelligence. #AI #FinTech #HealthTech

4. Digital is not only breaking down the barriers for information access, but also the barriers of transactions – eliminating the middle men via Blockchain Technologies. #Blockchain

5. Sensors are everywhere, but we have just started the massive understand the impact when things are connecting creating the internet of things. #IIoT #Sensorconomy #IoT #Nanosensors

6. Urbanisation has transformed cities already today, but technology will unfold a new era of Smart Cities where mobility services will displace public transportation, self-driving cars will re-define the requirements for infrastructure and energy will be turned into efficient energy networks. #SmartCities #Mobility #SmartHomes

7. While the digital world does not know boundaries, our society will be questioning the role of citizenship, governments and space travel. #GlobalCitizen #MultiplanetarySpecies

Invite Monty for your Event

Contact us directly if you want to request a proposal for a keynote speech. Just email Angelique and send her details about your conference or event (date, audience, location etc.) and we will get back to you shortly.

General Information about Futurist Keynote Speaker, Monty Metzger, can be found here.

30
May

AI is the re-defining Digital Leadership #Keynote

Artificial Intelligence is the defining technology of the 21st century.

But what impact does AI have on your industry and your business?
This week I was invited as the opening keynote speaker of the Vision Track at a large Tech Conference. I was talking about the Digital Future 2030, but particularly focusing on why AI is re-defining Digital Leadership already today.

Three Waves of AI Innovation

As a Keynote Speaker I want to give my audience first hands insights into the current development and what it means for their business. Just recently I had the opportunity to be part of a c-level manager learning journey to China and Japan (organised by my colleagues at Digital Leaders) where I experienced the latest in AI research and AI products.

The development of AI will happen in three waves. The first wave of AI will be based on the data we already have available #BigData and it will impact industries where data is available in abundance – such as Financial Industry, Logistics, Media or IT. The second wave of AI will be driven by new data we are generating via Industrial Internet of Things IIoT and a variety of Sensornetworks. In this phase AI will disrupt industries like healthcare, pharma, food, advanced manufacturing, mobility, transport and even governments. The third wave of AI will have the biggest impact on our society, economy and policies. AI will empower robotics, smart cities infrastructure, self-driving autonomous cars, increasing energy efficiency hundredfold, create personalised medicine, curing cancer, enable cyber security and influencing every industry on our planet.

What’s your AI strategy?

Our world has entered the digital age – autonomous cars, society 5.0, humanoid robots, advanced manufacturing, AI Finance advisors outperforming the bankers, smart digital healthcare and industrial internet of things. While many leaders are struggling to keep up with the rapid development, I see a world of new opportunities where we can thrive and build a sustainable future based on the true potential of human intelligence and capabilities.

In this inspiring keynote, Monty Metzger, tech-futurist and investor will present a future vision driven by exponential technologies, algorithms and artificial intelligence, and its impact on society, cities, energy, mobility and your industry.

The audiences will gain insights into the companies, technologies and global forces shaping the age of artificial intelligence, machine learning, as well as a set of tailored next actions on how to redesign their organisations, reimagine their leadership roles and reinvent the way they make decisions.

Contact Monty for a Keynote Speech

Interested in a keynote speech on AI. Keynote topic and title could be “The Future of Artificial Intelligence: How AI is re-defining Digital Leadership and disrupting our business world?”, but will be adapted to your needs and audience. Find out more here. Or request a proposal and send us an Email directly.

18
May

Who are the most exciting Smart Cities Startups in Europe?

Focusing on Industrial Internet of Things, Autonomous Driving and eMobility, Hardware and Smart Infrastructure, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, Sharing Economy and Digital Services.

As a Startup you will get 100.000 Euro in funding at fair and transparent terms, access to the network of the FIA, DLV and our partners, PR coverage …. and a special invitation to the Formula E Race in Berlin.

APPLICATION IS OPEN NOW
https://goo.gl/forms/kS8OLmOH87ZeMtJn2

Application Deadline May 29th at 11:55 pm CET

Learn more about Benefits, Jury and Focus at
http://www.dlv.vc/fia-global-startup-contest

Highlights Smart Cities Mexico City

28
Apr

The Future of Mobility and Smart Cities – Keynote Speaker

Smart Cities and its impact on business, society and policies

As our society is getting used to enjoy the benefits of the sharing economy, the basic concept of transportation and mobility is changing. Leaders and decision makers at businesses and governments are raising the question: How will our cities transforms into smart cities? How will the future of mobility look like? How to prepare your institution or company for the future of transportation?

Keynote Speaker Monty Metzger is explaining the key technology trends and economic dynamics that change transportation from the ground up. Based on international trend research and analysis of investment flows Monty Metzger is defining the key drivers of change and how it is impacting your industry.

The Future of Mobility

„We have never seen so many new startups in the automotive industry like today“ says Monty Metzger. Autonomous driving, electric cars and smart infrastructure are some of the most important areas Technology Entrepreneurs and Venture Investors are focusing.
The change we see in the transportation industry today is driven by new technology startups as well as traditional market leaders. Companies like Tesla Motors, Next EV, Faraday Future or Rimac are challenging the current market leaders with new innovative electric cars. Companies like UBER, Lyft or Didi are building platform services transforming how the society is using transportation and disrupting the industry. At the same time the market leaders in the automotive industry, like GM, Volkswagen, BMW Group or Toyota, are increasing the budgets for innovative R&D, innovation labs, investments and M&A.
Monty’s keynote speeches on the future of mobility are designed to educate and inspire decision makers who do business in the rapidly transforming new mobility industry.

We have reached a tipping point – Technology development is impacting the energy, mobility and infrastructure industry. The next 5 years will usher more change than the previous 50.

The Lines Separating The Transportation And Technology Industries Continue To Blur

Traditional industries with its current market leaders are pressured to either innovate or accept decline of their business. Adding technology innovation to traditional industries means big changes – it means change to customer experience, products, as well as shifting entire business models. Monty Metzger understands the perspectives of corporate leaders as well as startups, pointing out the four major forces that will transform automotive: connected, sharing, autonomous and alternative fuels. But with this technological development also come new responsibility and new fields of business operations. Privacy, Data protection, cyber security with adoption of connected cars and its implications on car ownership, public transportation, city infrastructure and public policies.

Contact Monty for a Keynote Speech

Interested in a keynote on the future of mobility or the future of transportation. Find out more here. Or request a proposal and contact us here.

Smart Cities Keynote Speaker

– About Monty C. M. Metzger
Monty Metzger is leading the FIA Smart Cities Startup Initiative in teamwork with the FIA, Formula E, Michelin, ENEL and Julius Baer. He is Partner at Digital Leaders Ventures, a Venture Capital Fund investing in technology companies with a strong focus on #SmartCities, Road Safety, Autonomous Driving and Future of Mobility. He was founder and CEO of a leading future research company with offices in New York, Munich, Beijing and Tokyo. As a thought leader and futurist he has extensive experience in reflecting on the mega trends of today and interacting with top leaders of business, government, and nonprofit organizations to encourage digital leadership and digital excellence.

14
Mar

$1 Million Dollar Startup Competition on Smart Cities and Road Safety

Last week there was the official announcement of our $1 Million Dollar Startup Competition – a joint project of Digital Leaders Ventures (DLV) and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) with support by Enel, Michelin and Julius Baer.

At the FIA booth at the Geneva Motorshow we held a press conference to announce the FIA Smart Cities Initiative and the Global Startup Contest.

At DLV.vc you can find our more about the Global Startup Contest – the FIA Smart Cities Startup – and details about benefits, timing and jury members.

To give you more insights about what was happening at the Press Conference in Geneva and to explain the startup competition, I posted a short #Vlog on YouTube.

Who are the Most successful Smart Cities Startups?

At the DLV startup competition we are looking for companies who are building the smart cities of the future. There are no regional limitation to be part of the challenge, but we are looking for companies who have got previous funding or graduated from an accelerator program. We are open for tech startups in the wide field of topics related to smart cities and road safety: autonomous driving, industrial internet of things, smart infrastructure, machine learning, artificial intelligence and big data as well as digital platforms or services.

The winning company will be officially named as the FIA Smart Cities Startup 2017. The Global Startup Contest is hosted in teamwork with the international Formula E racing series. The startup contest will be held right before the Formula E race weekend and located within the VIP areas of the Formula E hospitality areas, the eMotions CLub.

Why it’s exciting to be part of this startup competition?

We’d like to make change happen – turning our cities into smart cities and increasing road safety dramatically. Besides an investment of 100,000 USD at each pitch event, startups get access to our network of partners and experts. We are working with the MIT Enterprise Forum at MIT University Boston and local startup accelerators to pre-select the most promising companies.

On the pitch day, the top 10 founders will present their company to our jury. The DLV startup jury consist of representatives from DLV, FIA, ENEL, Julius Baer, Michelin and the World Economic Forum. Then we will select the top three finalist who will present to a large audience at the FIA Smart Cities Forum on Friday – right before the Formula E Raceday. And finally we will announce the official FIA Smart Cities Startup.

16
Jan

The History Of The Digital Future #Digital2030

How will the future of digital look like? What are the key emerging technology trends every leader needs to understand?
Exactly in January 14 years ago, the Line Mode Browser, was introduced, enabling everybody to explore the World Wide Web. Since then digital has transformed our society and business from the ground up. The next 14 years will usher more change than the previous 14 years. Here is a video showcasing my technology predictions until 2030.

#Digital2030

17
Nov

Elon Musk’s Space X is applying for over 4.000 Internet Satellites.

This is BIG News: Elon Musk’s Space X is applying for over 4.000 Internet Satellites.

To be precise SpaceX wants to launch 4,425 satellites into low-Earth orbits, with altitudes ranging from 715 miles to 823 miles.

Each satellite will provide aggregate downlink capacity of 17 to 23Gbps, the application said. “With deployment of the first 800 satellites, the system will be able to provide US and international broadband connectivity; when fully deployed, the system will add capacity and availability at the equator and poles for truly global coverage,” SpaceX said.

Ok – But, what does this mean?
1. The Satellites are powered by the solar panels they makes. New additional profits and revenues for SolarCity / Tesla.

2. They are building a new worldwide wireless internet company, connecting the globe (competing with Facebook’s and Google’s approach to bring Internet to the rural areas as well). Most likely this could be also disrupting the Telco business, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Vodafone etc.

3. This will enable TESLA to provide ubiquitous connectivity for his autonomous car business.

spacex-internet-satellites

26
Oct

How Self-Driving Cars Will Redefine The Future Of Mobility?

How Self-Driving Vehicles Will Change Us? Society? Our daily life?
And how quickly will consumers adapt to this new driverless mobility?
What is the economic case for self-driving cars?

The shift to autonomous vehicles is the biggest transformation of the automobile industry since Carl Benz invented the car. We have reached a tipping point, the technology for driverless cars is in the market already or will be rolled out in the near future. As I have been researching and monitoring emerging technology trends since almost two decades I know that people are typically slow in changing. It takes time until you switch to a new TV or buy new tech equipment for your smart home. These tech trends are slowly changing how we live. With self-driving cars it will be different. I am convinced that people will switch to driverless cars very quickly. People will activate the autopilot mode, enabling their cars to autonomously drive on their commute to work, pick up their kids from school, watch a movie while driving, do some work while driving or let the car park itself. I am convince that this technology trends will be a mass phenomena in a short period of time because people are lazy – they love convenience. And self-driving cars are perfect for our lazy society.

In this Vlog I drew a mindmap of a ecosystem of autonomous vehicles and its impact on the economy. The Video was filmed in Rotterdam and Brussels last week.

During my keynote speeches I am also reflecting on some of the following questions. What impact will self-driving cars have on designing smart cities and urban environments? What is the status quo of driver-less cars – What is in the market and what kind of “autonomous vehicles” products can we expect in the future?

So assuming that you are aware of the disruptive change the automobile industry is facing in the next decade – What are the implications for leadership decisions? What are the implications for investments? What are the implications in our social, political, and economic world of self-driven automobiles?

17
Oct

What makes a powerful startup ecosystem?

Startup ecosystems are a key driver of economic growth of a country. There are many components which makes a successful startup ecosystems. In this video I am visiting London and explaining my perspective on entrepreneurial ecosystems globally. Europe does not have a silicon valley, but I think it doesn’t need one. Europe has many unique startup ecosystems where entrepreneurs are building the digital future – the sum of these innovation hubs might outperform silicon valley in the future.

Starting a company is difficult and takes a lot of entrepreneurial qualities, such as perseverance, resistance, and passion. In the digital age you can start a company anywhere in the world. Being successful is not related to a specific location nor country anymore. You can even be a digital nomad and still build a thriving company. But what I have seen during my trips to some of the most powerful startup ecosystems is, that it is much easier to be successful in these entrepreneurial hubs than on a lonely island at the Maldives.

Startup ecosystems are like a magnet, bringing together the key elements for every entrepreneur to succeed. From my perspective a thriving startup ecosystem needs four components:
1. Knowledge: The right education, life long learning programs, mixed with the mindset of sharing knowledge and exchanging their concepts and business ideas with others.
2. Infrastructure: With infrastructure I mean everything you need to reach your entrepreneurial goals and do your work. This includes super fast internet, inspiring work spaces, accelerator programs and corporate startup programs etc.
3. Talent: To be successful you need to right people around you, as co-founders, developers, key sales people or smart growth hackers. During every stage of the company you will need different qualities and specialities of people. But startup ecosystems are like a magnet for good people. That’s why some of the best people decided to move to these startup hubs (e.g. entrepreneurs who moved to Silicon Valley, such as Andy Bechtolsheim from Germany, Jan Koum from Ukraine, Larry Page from Michigan USA, Elon Musk from South Africa).
4. Capital: Startup Ecosystems have a dense network of Venture Capital Investors who are supporting entrepreneurs during the life-cycle of their companies, from seed-stage to growth-stage.

Watch my #Vlog from London where I am talking about “The Power of Startup Ecosystems”:

07
Oct

Every Company Will Be A Software Company! Keynote at ROCHE Switzerland

Why do companies struggle with digital transformation? Why are CEOs and managers still underestimating the impact the digital future will bring? Digital is already changing business models, company culture, products and processes – it’s a fundamental change nobody can stop. The digital future is already here but is not evenly distributed yet.

In my talk at ROCHE I spoke about the fourth industrial revolution, exponential technologies and its impact on every company and individual.

In this opening keynote I wanted to create understanding, awareness, explain relevant emerging tech trends and motivate to get started – embrace the digital future today.

Roche digitale transformation

Roche keynote Referent

Roche Tower

15
Sep

What are the most successful tech startups in Denmark?

Impressions from my business trip to Denmark. Video Interviews with the CEOs of two successful tech startups in Denmark: Cortrium and Snaplytics. Cortrium is a healthtech company who developed a mobile ECG device which you can wear on your body to track and analyze your vital signs. Snaplytics is a analytics platform for Snapchat where you can track the engagement of your content marketing activities and schedule future Snaps – kind of a publishing tool for Snapchat.

I wanted to experiment with a Vlog style video on my trip to Copenhagen.
This is experiment #1.

Disclosure: Cortrium and Snaplytics are both portfolio companies of my investment firm Digital Leaders Ventures

28
Jul

Moonshot Thinking for Strategic Leadership

Leadership Keynote Speaker, Monty Metzger, defines game-changing management strategies and leadership styles to help outperform your competition and preparing your corporation for the fourth industrial revolution – our digital technology future. The most influential leaders in tech have embraced moonshot thinking for their leadership strategy.

Wired Journalist Sonal Chokshi points out: “It’s often easier to make something 10 times better than it is to make it 10 percent better.” That’s the core of the idea of moonshots. The first step is to identify a huge opportunity which you are able to solve and create substantial value on the way. Seeing the big picture will help you overcome the current hurdles, barriers and problems on the way. I call this a new Leadership Strategy to improve the status quo exponentially by envisioning of what is possible in the Digtal Future rather than improvement by micro-management.

Most companies fail because they over-invest in what is rather than of what might be.

At tech conferences and leadership events we are listening to the most wanted tech and business keynote speakers. They tell us how they are changing the world, how they are disrupting industries, how they are growing highly profitable businesses. But how do you leverage this silicon valley mindset, change your habits and take action now?

Digital Leadership Keynote Speaker Monty Metzger

Why Exploring and Understanding the Technological Forces Will Lead You To Success

Exponentially growing technology, like VR, wireless sensors, cloud computing, cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence or robotics will eventually disrupt every industry. Moonshot-Thinking is a terms created in Silicon Valley and adapted by several successful entrepreneurs and business leaders. The invention of the micro-processor was a moonshot. Google’s self-driving car was a moonshot.

What history tells us is that the key difference to the outstanding inventions in the past and the moonshot-thinking leadership strategies tech companies are embracing, is that they do it again and again and again. By introducing lean management, agile product development and startup thinking into their core of their culture. Google has started Google X as an initiative to continuously create moonshot-thinking projects. They created Google Glass to merge the real with the virtual world, Project Loon to bring internet connectivity to the world or Project Wing to rapidly deliver products by using flying vehicles such as autonomous drones or Project AI, an artificial neural network for instant speech recognition and computer vision.

How StartUps and Entrepreneurs Use Moonshot Thinking and Technology Innovation to Create Disruptive and Profitable Businesses?

StartUps not only have a large impact on the economy of a country but also changing the way companies are managed and how new products are developed and launched.
Tech Startups are creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Entrepreneurs and Managers at the largest corporations have very similar challenges – also it’s not very obvious at first sight. They have to envision the future to make the right decisions today. They want to find the right path in our fast paced digital society to build a sustainable business and make money.

With the digital economy comes a new form of digital efficiency fostering a new leadership culture to be capital efficient while leverage human creativity more effectively.

How to Create the Next Billion Dollar Company?

New Rules for Digital Leadership - Monty Metzger KeynoteToday’s self-made billionaires have build technology companies like Facebook, Google, UBER, Dropbox, Salesforce, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Alibaba. But what do these tech billionaires have in common. Are they smarter than we are? Did they had a better education? Did they work harder then we did? Most of them surpassed shortcomings such as average intelligence by taking large problems of our times, trying to solves problems with smart technology, they saw the big picture and what they could achieve in 10 or 20 years, they are taking calculated risks and overcome critical entrepreneurial barriers. Monty’s Keynote speeches dive into the mind of these self-made tech billionaires and explain the key steps to follow their paths.

Contact us to request Monty’s keynote speaker profile.

24
Jun

BREXIT: What are the key issues for Entrepreneurs, StartUps and Investors now?

Revolution in England. Goodbye Britain. Goodbye Prime Minister Cameron. Little England has voted.
Britain will leave the European Union.

What are the key challenges for British Entrepreneurs and StartUps now? What are the challenges for all founders who chose a British Ltd but are based somewhere else? Many German founders chose the English LTD legal entity as it was easy, cheap and quick.

British StartUps in Trouble?

This morning StartUps, Entrepreneurs and Investors are facing the question of what actions to take due to the EU Referendum. Britain is leaving and the EU is in trouble. Brexit already shows uncertainty and significant economic impact for the whole industry. Both in the UK and the EU this historic day may translate into a lack of access to capital for many small businesses as venture capitalists, angel investors and private equity fund managers choose to wait and see how the exit will unfold.

One of the stars in the Tech StartUp scene based in London, TransferWise, employs people from more than 40 different countries and does business all across Europe. Taavet Hinrikus, CEO at TransferWise, warned of a possible BREXIT and now has to take action.

Is this the end of a Single Digital Market in Europe?

While Scotland may most likely be joining the EU. Netherlands and Sweden might try to exit EU. Euroscepticism and EU-Scepticism might be rising in Europe impacting the Venture Investor scene as a first step and then ultimately have negative impacts on UK and EU StartUps.
But will the BREXIT strengthen Berlin as a StartUp Hub?

Action points and advice for UK Entrepreneurs

Don’t panic. Wait and see what happens to the pound, which may recover quicker than you think. If it doesn’t, then look at setting up a US subsidiary or Dubai/Singapore based subsidiary if you can, and look at getting revenues paid in USD into those companies if you can afford to keep those revenues off shore.

Talent will still come to London. If the UK moves to an Australian based points system, then it will be easier to get people from all over the world into London, the government will hopefully compensate for the loss of talent from the EU with a points/visa based system that means you can hire from US, Asia etc. However the problem with these systems is that you are reliant on government approval…

If you are a UK based company and want to keep hiring talent from within the EU without having to apply for Visas, then start thinking about having part/all of your tech overseas. Eastern Europe, particularly Croatia/Romania/Hungary, makes a ton of sense, because it will be easy to recruit from within the EU and those countries will want to stay in the EU for a very long time.

Really focus on revenues from overseas?—?particularly Asia and US. Revenues in USD that can be kept overseas will become important.

Smart UK based startups will be focusing more on getting substantial customers overseas, with revenues in USD, and also keeping most operations overseas.

Costs of tech talent in the UK will possibly increase, as the great lower cost talent from the EU potentially leaves, so having more business overseas will be important.

Impact on investment. It is too early to tell yet, but Asia/US based investors which recently have been putting money into the UK, may retreat. This may mean that startups will have less options for cash, and will increasingly have to rely on UK funds, which may have an impact on startup funding.

Sources: Frank Meehan – Co-Founder of SmartUp.io as well as Bloomberg

17
Feb

Future of the Automotive Industry

Germanys largest industry is at stake. The Automative Industry is Germanys largest industry with turnover of €384 billion, that’s over 20 percent of total German industry revenue.

130 years ago the car, the first automobile, was invented in Germany by Carl Benz. But will the automobile be re-invented by a german entrepreneur or visionaire? Or will the automotive industry be able to re-invent itself?

Tesla Motors (USA) is already disrupting the market. NextEV (China/USA) and Faraday Future (USA) are waiting in the wings.

The following is a very simple example but it illustrates what is happening in the luxury car market in the US already.

Luxury Car Sales 2015, Tesla Motors versus BMW, Audi, Lexus and Mercedes

Luxury Car Sales 2015, Tesla Motors versus BMW, Audi, Lexus and Mercedes

Automotive Future Keynote Speaker Monty Metzger As a Futurist Keynote Speaker I believe that due to the latest emerging technology trends, the automotive industry is one of the most exciting industries in the world in the next decade. Autonomous vehicles, self-driving cars, electric cars, highly efficient battery solutions, smart transportation in combination with the sharing economy are developments pushing the boundaries of the automotive industry. It’s an exciting opportunity for entrepreneurs and startups. Last year over $9 billion USD had been invested by Venture Capital Investors in Urban Mobility and Technology in USA, according to Fortune. UBER got two thirds of the VC money. The total Venture Capital invested in the same period reached $64.5 billion USD.
To set this in perspective the total amount of Venture Capital invested in Germany has grown to €3.1 billion in 2015.

What are the most promising automative technology StartUps in Europe?

I’ve visited the Croatian eCar StartUp RIMAC Automobile a few years ago. The founder Mate Rimac guided me around the facilities and took me for a test drive in their 1088hp full-electric supercar. The concept-one is catapulting you from 0-100km/h in 2,8 seconds. Fascinating.

But I am sure there are many more interesting startups developing the future of the automotive industry in Europe. At Digital Leaders Ventures we are be investing in this area, talking to startups with disruptive technology and passionate entrepreneurs.

03
Feb

Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution

What is the 4th Industrial Revolution? What are the impacts of this technology future to your business? How to react? What are the leading strategies in an age of the machines – in the digital future? Experts believe in productivity boost but also dramatic changes to the labor market – job losses are inevitable.

Monty Metzger - Keynote Speaker

Monty Metzger – Keynote Speaker

Technology Futurist Monty Metzger speaks about how to master the fourth industrial revolution. The Digital Future will have far more impact — the next 25 years will usher more change than in the previous three centuries. What separates great leaders from the rest, is they have a precise vision of the future. A vision to enable change today.

Who will be leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

Fourth Industrial Revolution Keynote Speech

Industry 4.0 – The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Emerging Technology Trends are shaping the way we will do business in the future: Artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage, quantum computing and cybersecurity. How will our economy depend on data, analytics and AI? How Digital Transformation can boost your business?

Monty’s keynote speeches are for those who want to change things and for those who want embrace the opportunities of the Digital Future. Live Marketing and event agencies are frequently inviting Monty besides other motivational speakers to speak or be part of panel discussion. Contact us to request a proposal for your audience.

The impact on economy, business and governments

Digital Transformation Definition Keynote SpeakerThe acceleration of innovation and the velocity of disruption are hard to anticipate. As a technology futurist Monty is discussing these topics with global CEOs and senior business executives at conferences, internal events or offsite company meetings. The technologies changes that are driven by the Fourth Industrial Revolution are having a major impact on businesses – across all industries.

During the World Economic Forum in Davos Monty C. M. Metzger has discussed how the adaptation of digital transformation will determine the survival of industry leaders. Ultimately, Technology development is significantly changing our world and the changes can’t be stopped or slowed down. New technologies are creating new ways of serving existing needs and disrupting existing industry value chains.

The number one reason why companies fail is they over invest in the status quo, instead of the opportunities of the future.
Disruption is driven by agile innovative companies who challenge our world today.

Understanding the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Digital Leadership CDO Keynote Speaker How can we embrace the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution? Leaders are challenged to keep up with the speed of technological change. For the decision-makers it’s hard to distinguish between important trends and hip fads.
This raises new questions for Leadership and Management. Digital Leadership, as a Chief Executive Officer or Chief Digital Officer, will be rated and defined by new values and criteria.

This leadership presentation was held by Monty Metzger at an internal management conference of a market leading company – a Fortune 500 company with approx. $44 billion USD of annual revenue and 160.000 employees.

05
Jan

My Visit to Google Germany’s new Office in Munich

Almost nine years ago I visited the newly opened office of Google in Munich. Since then the team grew tremendously and has taken several buildings in the city of Munich. Now it’s time to get all of them under one roof and make space for more growth. This month Google Germany has moved into their new offices. Thanks Philipp for the tour.

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10
Dec

The Future of Money: What you need to know about the Blockchain Technology Trend? #FinTech

There is a lot of exchange of money that is completed online between people, especially of those people in a variety of countries. Bitcoin has been a popular choice for many. And the innovative technnology behind bitcoin is called the blockchain. This is a relatively unknown technology that can easily be misunderstood by those who are not familiar with it.

With all of this misunderstanding about this technology, people find it to be very controversial and have a lot of mistrust for this new technology only because of its association with bitcoin.
FinTech companies are very interested in the blockchain technologies. For experts in the financial world, they understand that there is actually nothing controversial about this new trend.

Blockchain is to the Money, what Email is to the Letter.

Future of Money Blockchain Keynote Speaker

“Blockchain is to the Money, what Email is to the Letter.”

Blockchain Technology

What is blockchain? It is basically just a digital ledger that is shared with a variety of different parties. What makes this so unique and uncontroversial is the fact that changes cannot be made to it with having the majority consensus agree to the changes. This is not the only great thing about this so-called future of money so fantastic is that data cannot be changed after it has already been entered into the ledger.

In many other forms of financial systems, you are actually putting your trust into one third party to give you the right information. For instance, you trust your bank to give you accurate bank statements or your antivirus to make sure that your computer safe. Trusting just one entity with your information can be dangerous because they can offer misinformation or just simply lie to you. This is how mistakes happen. This is the biggest reason why blockchain is such a huge game changer. These records will be accurate and since they cannot be changed, you can trust that the information that you are receiving is trustworthy. The best part is that these ledgers can offer all of this detailed information without making its users compromise their privacy.

Blockchain is starting to make waves in the financial world with some of the largest banks in the world beginning to research how they can utilize applications of blockchain. Estonia is just one location that uses blockchain in order to secure their banking infrastructure, actually has the lowest rate when it comes to credit card fraud in the entire euro zone. Internet startups are starting to pick up on blockchain for their own businesses as well.

The future of Money – Future of Banking

The future of money really is found within the blockchain technology. People want something that they can trust because it is their money on the line. Blockchain has a lot of potential, and there can be so many other applications of this technology in other fields. Think about putting documents like health records or even things like marriage licenses in the blockchain. You can create a visible trail for audits so that you can see each event without actually compromising anyone’s privacy. Blockchain is the new technology to trust and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

Back in 2013 Monty already started to dig into Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain and published this Visualisation of the Blockchain Industry.

Keynote Speaker

Future of Banking, Blockchain and Bitcoin

Monty is a global speaker and invited to several conferences, board leadership workshops and events each month. His keynotes speeches and impulse talks provoke, excite and inspire. He has traveled to 44 countries to visit the most relevant innovation hubs globally and to discover the trends of tomorrow already today.
If you are planning an event please do not hesitate to contact Angelique at angelique (dot) weingarten (at) monty (dot) de