Supertrends: 50 Things You Need to Know about the Future

by Lars Tvede

Take a look into the future and discover the trends that are shaping our world Futurists are in the business of predicting the future. What do the most efficient futurists know? You’ll find the answer inside 50 Things You Need to Know About the Future . Discover how we can expect the world to evolve in terms of demographics, economics, technology, environment and beyond. Whatever it is that you do, you will be able to better prepare for the future if you can just get a clear view of it. These are turbulent times, and we all need to be ready for what’s coming if we hope to thrive. This book addresses what we can expect in the coming decades, and how companies and government should adapt to accelerating change. You will also see improvement in your own ability to predict the next big thing – a valuable skill in any walk of life. Author Lars Tvede is a serial entrepreneur and currently works as founding partner in the successful venture fund Nordic Eye, the think tank Futures Institute and the forecasting company Supertrends. Throughout his career, he has found success through his uncanny ability to predict the trends that will take our world forward. Read this book to benefit from his insights and get a handle on what’s coming next in our dynamic world. Anyone who needs to understand the future – from financial executives, industry leaders and entrepreneurs to journalists and politicians – will benefit from Supertrends .

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

Published December 23, 2019

Reviews

[Chris Esposo · Rating 2 out of 5]

An adequate broad overview of various industries, mostly in technology, and the author’s opinion on the nature of development in these areas, and how he believes they will impact society. The areas covered include: Hardware, software, energy (especially contemporary nuclear and nuclear fusion), post-web 2.0 companies that will leverage geo-location and other integrated/augmented reality platforms, transportation etc., as well as associated forecasted evolutions in the business models and organizational structure of these companies that the author believes will occur in the not-too-distant future to support these enterprises.

I can only comment on the areas that I would consider myself to be “expert”, mostly in the AI/ML areas, and his forecast on new retail, but for these sections, the “insights” were not profound. Much of the author’s prognostications on the nature of quantum computing, AR, VR, “big data” etc., amount to the kind of marketing-copy one one expect from a Fortune magazine article on the subjects, and less a serious perspective on these topics. Of course, each of these topics would warrant a separate book to themselves for a person to engage in a serious analysis of their trajectory and current structure, but that doesn’t really change the fact that one can’t get much edge from the information here.

I won’t really comment on the other two big areas, biotechnology and energy, other than to say these too felt shallow. The bit on the “decentralized”/network economies was overly optimistic. The author envisions that ratings, recommender systems via collaborative filtering, and sharing-based technologies are the wave of the future. This was the kind of buzz one would have heard from 2017-2019. The efficiency gained from disintermediation notwithstanding, I believe people have soured (at least a little) on this notion as of late.

This might serve as a good intro to these topics for an investor or political forecaster, but too shallow for any other purpose. Further, with respect to its use in political forecasting, the author clearly reveals his right-of-center perspective in the last chapter, which is fine, as “everyone has an angle”, but it should be noted for those who would like to leverage these in a real forecasting/analysis project.

[Sune Sørensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extraordinary read with interesting facts and perspectives on the past, present and future. I highly recommend it!

[Laura Walin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was oddly fascinating to read a book where you don't agree with the author, neither on the premises nor on the conclusions. The topic itself, the future of the humankind, is the topic that nevertheless brought us together, when I just searched the local library for books on megatrends.

Lars Tvede is a Danish serial entrepreneur and investor, and, based on this book, his belief in the human capacity for innovation and technology as answers to all our problems is unwavering. In this book he paints a picture for human future where we indeed are masters of the whole planet, being able to source materials from the oddest places and making and killing species at our will. Technology and robots have taken over all the boring jobs and entertainment industry thriving.

While there is some food for thought in Tvede's writing, he seems to be ignoring most of the risks of the choices we advocates for. This especially concerns his ideas about hampering the nature around us, as well as celebrating the inventions we have made on finding resources (such as fracking). I won' even start about his state-as-a-service concept...Nevertheless, it is good to be exposed to other ways seeing the world, and also consider one's own beliefs from another angle.

[Ethan Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read, and a refreshingly optimistic view on the future. However, I don’t think the author digs deep enough into some of the challenges and counter arguments. On energy, the author is incredibly bullish on nuclear and sites good reasons for his thoughts. But he also ignores the fact that nuclear projects in the states are becoming increasingly pricy, and that even European states like france are cutting down their reliance on the energy source.

While Tvede, speaks loads about innovation and the positive impact it can bring, he downplays costs, political struggles, and even openness to change as a way to get there. I’m hopeful many of his predictions come true, but think he could have dug more deeply on the counters to his trends and how they may (or may not) impact things

[Alireza Hejazi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using the trends analysis method, this book examines the current and future implications of new technologies. Its main theme is that the world will be a far better place than the general public and even professionals realize. It summarizes the most important trends that point to the future. It considers the future in terms of demographics, economics, technologies, lifestyles, management practices, the environment, and other factors. Readers will discover what to expect in the future decades, as well as how businesses and governments should react to increasing change. This book is for anybody who wants to learn more about trends and their effects.

[David Baier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives a good broad description about different technologies that have a lot of potential. He doesn’t dive super deep into each category but it’s a good starting point to see which technologies could impact the future

[Lukasz]

recommendation: [Dividend Talk group](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/ZmE2...)