Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others – Jonathan Swift
In an article by Daniel Uria, hereports that in just 74 days after the launch of the original iPhone, Apple had sold 1 million units with the phone remaining popular, selling 216.7 million units in 2018, a rate of roughly a million every 1.5 days. Propelled in part by the popularity of the iPhone, Apple’s market valuation has risen from $174.03 billion in 2007 to become the first publicly traded company to achieve a $3 trillion market valuation last week.
Airbnb launched in 2008 by three guys who turned renting an air mattress in their apartment and eventually persuaded strangers to sleep in one another’s homes. It was just an idea to make extra bucks and make rent. Fourteen years later Airbnb revenue was just under 40 billion dollars. They compete with the Major Hotel Chains but don’t own hotels, worry about building maintenance, or thousands of employees showing up to work.
Uber this coming March will celebrate 13 years and in 2021 their estimated revenue was over 17 billion dollars. As of today, the number of Uber drivers in the United States is 1 million. Worldwide, there are an estimated 3-4 million Uber drivers. Since January 2021, Uber has added 640,000 drivers and couriers to their Uber and Uber Eats platforms.
The iPhone is only 15 years old, and a 15-year-old is basically a High School Freshman or Sophomore. Airbnb at 14 years and Uber at 13 in essence are middle schoolers. These young companies have grown faster and more efficiently than most of their competitors.
The world is changing. What can we learn from these teenagers?
Perhaps we need a motivated group that embraces this new technology to take a different approach to fundraising.
Imagine nonprofit fundraising becoming more of a block of support than the current triangle within which your top 12% of donors provide 20% of your donations. What if the remaining 88% of your donors become empowered to give more and automatically?
Article written for KronstadtConsult.com/blog by
Greg Johnson, Owner, Johnson Enterprises International, LLC
Douglas M. (Doug) DeWitt, Ph.D. (Chair: Dept of Education Leadership; Salisbury University.)
Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, CFRE, IOM, Owner, Kronstadt Consulting
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