I’m on a journey to make 30 predictions in 30 days – and strengthen my decision making abilities in the process. Join me on the journey by shooting an email with your thoughts and comments.
2016 and well into 2017 we will see a lot of acquisitions by major corporations, agencies, and brands.
The millennial generation (born between the 1980’s and early 2000’s), my generation (I am 32), has different goals, aspirations, and values than those established in the huge brands and corporations that exist today. As a result, it is getting harder and harder to recruit top tier talent that want to have a job that provides meaning and value (check out the Tony Robbins Podcast: Transforming Company Culture).
My generation is looking for life experiences and purpose driven work to enhance our knowledge base and expose us to unique opportunities. Additionally, we are less concerned about materialism and the standard American Dream than what our parents generation wanted to achieve (and the dream that the Eisenhower administration projected to their parents) .
Millennials are finding intellectual stimulation in creating their own jobs or are looking to work with innovative leaders that have created something from scratch/something with a powerful mission to “change the world”. Corporate bureaucracy within a large company threatens our generation’s ability to express oneself and create these cherished experiences.
As a result, major companies are already using startups, and in a larger part the entire city of San Francisco, as research and development hubs.
I worked for a company that a major bank paid to build out its attempt at a mobile wallet. They essentially outsourced the work to this startup by way of an investment in the startup. If it worked, it would have been a great investment, and people at the bank would get promotions and bonuses would have shot out like Old Faithful; if it didn’t work… well, the effort would have been simply brushed under the rug.
We are already starting to see the momentum happen where it isn’t just tech giants like Google and Amazon buying companies from former Google and Amazon employees. Instead companies like GM, traditional industrial blue chip co’s, are out buying companies like SideCar or its most notable “investment” - the $1Billion+ acquisition of startup Cruise Automation (click here to read).
We are going to see a lot more of these acquisitions, mergers, and buy-ups over the next couple of years because large organizations can’t change corporate values that loom from 20+ years ago. Additionally, large companies need access to new ideas that aren’t created within their bureaucratic walls. Access to these new ideas and values can’t be remedied through mere recruitment - they will need to go on a buying spree to acquire the best and brightest.