The power of zero advantage
How Estonia built its digital ecosystem
I met the Estonian Ambassador to the UK last evening. He also happened to be the first Ambassador in residence to India. As you will notice in the picture, Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati, and Taj Mahal are an integral part of his living room. I find these reminders of home charming.
We bonded over a shared love of India and the power of technology in addressing important socioeconomic issues.
Estonia is a small country so entrepreneurs there do not have a market to bank upon. They need to think globally from the very beginning and find their 1,000 true fans outside their home turf.
One of the founders present remarked that Estonia had the power of no advantage. Like him, other builders had to start from scratch and build the digital ecosystem of the country bit by bit play by play.
Sometimes a blank slate is a huge leverage. You are not bogged down by what you should do. Instead, you can think from first-principles and see where it goes. It seems to have worked well for Estonia. They already have 10 unicorns and many digitally savvy professionals are now making Estonia the headquarters of their operations.
Companies like Miros.ai are making e-commerce contextually smart, Gelato is democratizing printing, ID.me is propelling digital access, Bolt is revolutionizing transport, Wise has become the central nervous system of fintech and of course Skype is how many of us first had our video call.
Every country wants to build its Silicon Valley but they should perhaps closely look at Estonia and how it built its digital infrastructure from scratch. Lots of important lessons here. Network Capital would be doubling down in the region. Join us as we launch new chapters.
On a different but related note, DALLE-3 just launched. It might give Midjourney healthy competition.
If you are interested in learning more about generative AI and how it can transform work, live and everything in between, join us for the demo of one of our partners, Intelekt AI. They are hiring and if you are looking for your next big thing, they might have something exciting in store for you.
Before the event, I suggest you glance through this paper published by Sequoia.
While the pace of change is dizzying, keep an eye on first-principles. Some things don’t change and those who think clearly will always have deep competitive advantage.
Take a look at the difference between first-principles thinking and reasoning by analogy.
These are two subscriber-only newsletters you may enjoy.
Have a great weekend!
Utkarsh