This article positions ‘FinTech’ as having the capacity to transform how business gets done, through the classic dynamics of the long tail. FinTech will drive the creation of an Internet of Things for businesses which mirrors that of the consumer tech market.
Quantified Self becomes the Quantified Business
And just as the Quantified Self of the consumer market has driven efficiencies and self- improvement through connected products and services, so the Quantified Business will benefit from those same efficiencies, and develop new business ecosystems.
The introduction on the long tail will explain how data and digital technology has spawned a new breed of innovative and disruptive FinTech products and services. These can all be developed, distributed and discovered quickly, cheaply and easily on a global scale, challenging the incumbent Goliaths and geographical boundaries.
Gamified collaboration between businesses
The heart of the article will describe the emergence of the Quantified Business and articulate how small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) will consume information about their customers, competitors and collaborators. That will lead to a new level of insight, business performance management and gamified collaboration between businesses, triggering the growth of new value chain networks based on trust, transparency and data-driven decisions. Think of it as the equivalent of a B2B fitbit powered by FinTech!
Companies such as Tradeshift and cloud-based accountancy firms are already pioneering these concepts, and the article will signpost the importance of data to SMEs. Using and understanding this data will create a tipping point in the SME mind-set, freeing entrepreneurs to tap in to their ‘digital native’.
The final section will explain how this landscape will support the evolution of new business ecosystems — already signposted by Singularity University as the emergence of exponential organisations.