Fast Forward Investing How to Profit from AI, Driverless Vehicles, Gene Editing, Robotics, and Other Technologies Reshaping Our Lives

226 Pages·2016·2.01 MB·English

by  Jon Markman

Copyright © 2019 by Jon D. Markman. All rights reserved. Except as permitted
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I dedicate this book to my children, Joseph and Janie, who will
see many of the exciting technologies described in this book
move from the fringe to the norm, and will help shape the next
generation’s view of the future. I would also like to acknowledge
the contributions of my excellent researcher, TB, and my wife,
Ellen.
CONTENTS
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: Cloud Computing: The New Electricity
CHAPTER 2: Sensors: Analog Becomes Digital
CHAPTER 3: Decoding the Genome: Stretching the Meaning of Life
CHAPTER 4: Big Data: Making Sense of It All
CHAPTER 5: Predictive Analytics: The End of Hit or Miss
CHAPTER 6: Artificial Intelligence: Computing Evolves
CHAPTER 7: Robotics: Rise of the Machines
CHAPTER 8: Blockchain: The Transparency Revolution
CHAPTER 9: Self-Driving Cars: The Ultimate Paradigm Shift
CHAPTER 10: The Internet of Things: Smart Networks Everywhere
CHAPTER 11: Gene Editing: Reshuffling the Building Blocks of Life
CHAPTER 12: Precision, Nano, and Regenerative Medicine: Science
Fiction Meets Reality
Index
INTRODUCTION
T
he world is accelerating at an exponentially brisk pace toward a future in
which cars drive themselves, software writes itself, faulty human genetic
code edits itself, and the computing power helping all of this happen is virtually
limitless.
It is an era when fast forward is not just a button on a remote control; it is a
description and an aspiration for entrepreneurs, workers, government officials,
programmers, and physicians.
The stretch of time that lies ahead has the potential to create the greatest
economic boom that the world has ever known, surpassing the periods that
featured the discovery of fire, the discovery of electricity, the magic of flight, or
the invention of computers themselves. Every impressive technology we have
seen up to now has just been a prelude.
Fast forward: It is a dream and reality at the same time, as yesterday’s science
fiction becomes toys for children today, and crazy ideas like robotic trucks,
Mach 1 ground transportation, drone armies, and highly intelligent and adaptive
home furnishings are becoming a plausible reality.
All of this is going to make entrepreneurs and their backers very wealthy, but
public shareholders will benefit too, and grandly. And that’s the subject of this
book.
This book chronicles how all of the building blocks are coming together, each
augmenting the previous ones, enabling visionary entrepreneurs to build truly
transformational businesses. I will show how powerful cloud networks
democratized supercomputing, leading to groundbreaking changes in genomics
and artificial intelligence. I will show how the rise of inexpensive sensors helped
researchers turn the physical world into ethereal digital bits, and how
information scientists are harnessing that data to build revolutionary software
that is changing how products are built, and how services are delivered.
Also I will show the applications that are possible when all of these blocks
come together. Get ready for self-driving cars, gene editing, and advances in life
sciences that will bring microscopic robots, human organs generated in labs, and
medical treatments tailored to our specific genomics.
Most important, along the way, I will show you how to take advantage. I’m
Most important, along the way, I will show you how to take advantage. I’m
going to show you which trends are important, and which you should ignore. I’m
going to lay out the fast forward movers and shakers, the companies building
integral platforms and competitive advantages that will be difficult to reproduce.
In short, I am going to show you which companies are most likely to make
investors rich as they hurdle to the very edges of practice and possibility.
CHAPTER 1
CLOUD COMPUTING: THE NEW
ELECTRICITY
I
n the late 1800s, the proliferation of cheap industrial electricity changed
commerce. It led to vibrant new ecosystems that fostered further innovation.
Cloud computing is serving the same role today. It is transformational.
In this chapter I will show how Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos created this
new era with a stroke of rare insight, carving a path for a new generation of
entrepreneurs to follow. You will also learn how two other entrepreneurs—Mark
Zuckerberg of Facebook and Reed Hastings of Netflix—would cleverly leverage
cloud computing to become legends in their own right. And you will see how
companies are still racing to move their business to the cloud two decades after
these pioneers lit the pathway.
But first, for valuable context, I want you to take a quick detour into history
to learn how an underappreciated giant of nineteenth-century business set the
tone for today’s innovations by disrupting industry with the development of
mass-market electricity.
Henry Burden
Henry Burden, the son of a Scottish sheep farmer, landed in upstate New York in
1819 after studying engineering at the University of Edinburgh. Dead set on
making his fortune in the burgeoning American industrial complex, by 1835 he
had patented machines to forge the spikes used for the railroad industry. He
invented another machine that made horseshoes. His company, Burden Iron
Works, astounded competitors by making 60 a minute.
Ultimately, that prowess allowed Burden to supply the Union Army during
the Civil War. At the time, machine-made horseshoes were sold in 100-pound