article thumbnail

What Is The Job Metaverse Is Trying To Do?

The Horizons Tracker

While the metaverse sprang to public attention with the renaming of Facebook earlier this year, the phrase was coined back in 1996 in Neal Stephenson’s book Snow Crash, in which the science fiction author described an immersive version of the internet that was accessed via virtual reality. It’s a market that is already worth $3.1

article thumbnail

When Will this Low-Innovation Internet Era End?

Harvard Business Review

Then there's another view, which I heard from author Neal Stephenson in an MIT lecture hall last week. Stephenson was clearly trying to be provocative. but the emerging markets boom has generally been more about catching up than exploiting cutting-edge technology.). And yes, the story has been different outside the U.S.,

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Why Business Leaders Need to Read More Science Fiction

Harvard Business Review

Rising sea levels flood Manhattan in Kim Stanley Robinson’s New York 2140 , prompting hedge fund managers and real estate investors to create a new intertidal market index. As climate change accelerates and the world economy becomes ever more concentrated in megacities, rethinking infrastructure becomes an ever more urgent priority.

article thumbnail

Welcome to HBR's Customer Intelligence Insight Center

Harvard Business Review

As early as 1994 Neal Stephenson was envisioning the era of Big Data, and how it might change the work of a market researcher. Fiction writers who specialize in creating dystopian near-futures seem to put a lot of stock in the potential of customer intelligence.

article thumbnail

The Stakeholders You Need to Close a Big Deal

Harvard Business Review

The ask: invest $35 million for exclusive bundling rights to the US market. Cool new technology, new market for AT&T, competitive pressure, etc. The decision maker at AT&T was CEO Randall Stephenson. With that, Stephenson felt he could defend his decision.

article thumbnail

Winning the Elusive Marquee-Brand Customer Advocate

Harvard Business Review

The marketing head of an ambitious technology firm recently shared with me a vexing problem: Apple was one of their customers. As Michael Stephenson , a key leader in global customer programs at Oracle puts it, his firm has various business units that focus on specific industries. But it is not insoluble.

Brand 8
article thumbnail

To Stay Relevant, Your Company and Employees Must Keep Learning

Harvard Business Review

As AT&T CEO and Chair Randall Stephenson, recently told the New York Times, “There is a need to retool yourself, and you should not expect to stop… People who do not spend five to 10 hours a week in online learning will obsolete themselves with the technology.” To atrophy is to lose in the market. Insight Center.