So I got another shot at my 15 minutes http://goo.gl/629X6

So that was my 15 (or more like 3…) minutes of fame…

Check out “my” episode here: http://urplay.se/168317

Ok, so this is something I have been wanting to happen for years, and since nothing has happened yet, I suppose spreading the idea and hoping someone out there will catch on is the best I can do for now.

So, here is the situation:

We have increasingly large number of the population hitting 60+, and most of them are not all that computer savvy. Many of them report problems when trying to pay bills or do their everyday chores online. This combined with the fact that more and more business is moving online; banks, insurance, Försäkringskassan etc means that the problem is accelerating. The ones that can’t go online are doomed to go to small kiosks and ICAs where they charge an arm and a leg for paying a bill for you online, and they definately don’t help you out with other online to-dos. So we have a whole generation being pushed out of society slowly but surely.

On the other end of the age ladder are all the very tech savvy young people, of which many of them are out of work.

So, stating the obvoius here, why not start community centers where older people can go to meet younger people that help them with their everyday online chores? Maybe it’s a part of an activity program, as a unemployed young person you can sign up for a year at the community computer center etc.

Double win! the older ones get their bills paid, they’ll pick up a trick or two and might even start using computers themselves once they see how easy it actually is.

The younger ones get something meaningful to do, apart from the fact that they get a job (!), and they get to spend their time online, where they would be anyway.

There are also intagiables here, we build bonds between young and old, we build a stronger community, we help people get out from their isolation, we give young people a meningful job for period of time.

Some of the customers might not be able to get to the center, well, then jump on a bike with a laptop and make a house-call. But actually having a center with a café where people meet and talk is a part of the idea.

And going on, it should probably be funded by the goverment, but the sponsoring opportunities are huge; workstations, broadband, mobile broadband, the café itself… I am sure one could bring this together quite easily.

And just imagine all the fantastic blogs that could be created by the older people dictating their life experiences having someone write it down and post it online, saving all of these incredible moments people have been a part of for the the rest of the world to see.

And even is this is “only” a problem the next 20 years, imagine the leap for our society as an online entity? If we had “Kunskapslyftet” in the 90-ies when everyone got taught computers, this could be “onlinelyftet” when suddenly everyone is enabled and no-one is left out anymore.

So, could someone please get this organized?

The main reason companies stagnate and aren’t innovative, is that they are more interested in making money than creating business.

Ok, hur svårt kan det egentligen vara att hålla en rulltrappa rullande? tydligen är det knepigare än man kan tro, mht till alla stillastående rulltrappor där ute. Men då borde ju det kunna skapa en marknad för alla som startar en fristående rulltrappeserviceteknikerfirma. Med jour och 30 minuters inställelsetid. Samt max 60 minuters reparationstid. Typ så borde det ju vara. Frågan är vad som går sönder egentligen? De få gånger man ser en reparatör vid en stillastående trappa, verkar de bara stå eller ligga och titta fundersamt på kontraptionen och ser ut att tänka “Va i hela helvete är det som inte funkar??” sen tar de fram en slägga och drar till på influxkapacitatorn eller rullkondensatordefrillibatorn, och vips, så funkar det igen.

Affärsidé som sagt, Rulltrappeserviceteknikerfirma!

This is the core of the 3 minute intro talk I gave at the TEDx event KTH Innovation held together with the American Embassy on June 13th, 2010. The event pages here: www.tedxstockholmlove2010.com

Since the event was held in the Innovation pavilion, and the TEDx theme was love, it was natural for me to talk about my love of innovation:

_______________________________________________

I love Innovation, I truly do. And why do I love Innovation?

I love it for it gives me Inspiration

I love it for it supplies me with Never-ending energy

I love it for it makes every day New

I love it for it helps me conquer any Obstacle

And makes me Victorious

I love it for the Adventure of discovering new things and new ways of doing things

I love it for it keeps me True, and lets me follow my dreams

And of course I love it for all the cool, jaw dropping Inventions!

I love it for the Order it brings to my chaotic, creative brain.

And finally, for it being a Necessity of my life, I cannot do anything but unconditionally, love it.

I love it.

Innovation.

Twitter pitch: A  bicycle wash where I can leave my bike to be looked after while I shop/have coffee/go to the movies.

This came up last summer when I was tasked with coming up for ideas for summer jobs for teenagers, and it’s something I realize that I’ve been wanting without knowing it!

Imagine biking downtown, stopping outside the cafe or cinema, giving your bike to the valet, who looks after the bike for the time I am gone, checks tire pressure, gives it a quick shine, and keeps it safe and looked after. Drive-in cycle wash. Not drive-through mind you All it takes is a couple of entrepreneurial, service minded youngsters, access to water and equipment and some basic knowledge. They set up shop close to cafés, cinemas or other places where people gather, then offer to clean, oil and look after your bike for the time you are away and then charge you 15 bucks. Perfect for the urban citizen who never spends time fixing up the bike but uses it every day. They could also extend their business by offering other simple repair tasks, like fixing a flat or adjusting the different parts of the bike, then maybe in collaboration with a established cycle shop.

The Twitter Pitch: Healthy fast food chain that helps you eat well, offering menus according to nutrition trends. Choose your Method!

Ok, so this is something I came up with six or seven years ago, when I was looking for something to eat for lunch, and as I see it, it is still very valid! I actually had a group of students at IHM who did their final exam project on the idea, and it was voted best project work of the year. Maybe says more about the students than the idea, but still

Problems:

- There aren’t any healthy fast food alternatives where you can get a quick and healthy lunch.

- Apart from lunches, people want and try to eat healthily at home as well, but find it very difficult to do so. Basically because they know too little about nutrition so they read about the latest nutritional trend in the newspaper and decide to try a new dietary course, like GI or South Beach. But that doesn’t help at 18.25 in the Supermarket, on their way home, hungry and tired, when the newspaper article is far away and they really don’t feel like thinking, so they just pick up whatever is easiest, the same old food they always pick up. 

So the first idea was of course to develop a chain of fast food restaurants that served healthy food. But then what is healthy food? It tends to vary depending on the fashion, and then many people have  their own take on it, so the idea is actually in the name; Method, (Metod in Swedish).

This means that the menu will be divided into different Methods, like different diets, so it would be:

“GI of the day”
“Stone Age of the day”
“South Beach of the day”
“LoCalHiFat of the day”
“MaxCal of the day”

Etc.

And best of all, they also sell semi-prepared meals and/or shopping lists for the evening meal, based on the same diet, so you get it all covered. It’s all about helping people and making it easy for them.

This concept also covers the logistics of how to make it work, I’ve actually run this by a couple of Resturant owners, wholove the idea, and I am convinced it could both work and be very successful, after all, there will always be a new diet in the newspaper, right?

So why should you need more that 140 characters anyway?

Let’s drop the -99 concept of the elevator pitch, let’s evolve and start using “The Twitter Pitch”. I came up with the idea last week and it has grown on me since, it’s basically a combo of your vision statement and your business idea, and it’s all I need to know. If you can’t describe what your doing or selling in 140 characters, then your doing it wrong.

Mark Twain started it by saying “Excuse my long letter, I didn’t have time to write a short one” and Winston Churchill went on by saying “The length of this document defends it well against the risk of its being read”

Keep it short and to the point, give me a twitter pitch!

Imagine a Nespresso machine, but this is for cupcakes and cinnamon buns. You grab a bun-pod from the freezer, put it in the bun-baker, connect it to your USB port and – Presto! 5 minutes later a perfect freshly baked bun. or chocolate muffin