Small Business Labs

McKinsey on the Metaverse

The metaverse is a hot topic, so it's no surprise that the influential strategy consulting firm McKinsey generates a lot of content on the subject.

They recently released Your Guide to the Metaverse, a 3 part podcast series:

1. What is the metaverse—and what does it mean for business?: provides an overview of metaverse, including the fact that a broadly accepted definition of the metaverse doesn't yet exist.
2. The promise and the peril of the metaverse: covers early use cases, ways it could change business and society, and potential downsides.
3. Innovative and practical applications of the metaverse: the title is pretty self-explanatory.

The series is available on McKinsey's At the Edge podcast, and the series provides a nice introduction and overview to the metaverse.

They also have transcripts of the podcasts on their site (click on the podcast titles to view the transcripts).  

As we pointed out in our article Working in the Metaverse Deja Vu, this isn't the first rodeo for the metaverse.  

Back in 2007, the virtual world Second Life was hot, and many (including us) were forecasting that use of virtual worlds would become popular and widespread by 2017. 

We were wrong.

A big reason for this was that the technology wasn't ready, which is something we should have realized at that time.  

The technology still isn't ready, but it's gotten much better.

And we believe that over the next few years, the metaverse will start to reach the potential we envisioned over a decade ago.

BTW, the picture is from Venture Beats' article CES 2022: Eyeing an enterprise metaverse.  It covers potential enterprise metaverse applications.  

The Sea Change in C-Suite Thinking About Gig Workers

The global HR consulting firm Mercer recently released its Global Talent Trends 2022 study report.  

One of their findings is that 60% of C-suite executives surveyed expect gig workers will substantially replace full-time employees at their company within the next three years.  

More broadly, the Mercer study found that firms and executives are working to increase their talent agility and flexibility to respond to economic changes more quickly.

And the use of gig workers - freelancers, independent contractors, and other forms of nonemployee labor - increases a firm's agility and flexibility.  

This data illustrates the sea change in c-suite thinking about gig workers over the past 5-7 years.

In 2015, few senior executives knew much about their firm's use of gig workers.  

We know this because, in 2015, we started a research project to find out how c-suite executives viewed nonemployee labor. We ended the study after interviewing c-suite executives from about a dozen corporations.  

We ended the study because none of the executives interviewed knew much or cared much about their firm's current or future use of contingent workers.

The use of gig workers and other forms of nonemployee labor simply wasn't considered important enough for senior execs to focus on back then.

But as the Mercer study shows, now there's a lot of c-suite focus on their firm's use of gig workers.  

BTW, while we agree that most organizations will increase their use of gig workers over the next three years, we doubt they will substantially replace their full-time employees with them over that timeframe.  

Three years is not enough time for most firms to accomplish such a significant workforce shift.  

We think this is an excellent example of people overestimating future rates of change.

This is a common issue with asking about the future in surveys. Most people - and even c-suite occupants - underestimate how long substantial changes take.  

In the technology world, this is referred to as Amara's Law, which states:

"We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run."

But it also applies to other types of change, especially second-order effects from technological change - which includes the rise of the gig economy.

Hotel Group Selina Joins with TechnoArt to Create a Digital Nomad Support Program

Selina, a hotel group that includes coworking hotels and startup incubator TechnoArt has created a new startup program targeted at digital nomads.

TechnoArt@Selina is a new 12-week innovation and incubation program designed to help entrepreneurs start their companies.  

What makes this program unique is its support for digital nomads. 

As part of the program, entrepreneurs gain access to the coworking facilities at Selina's global network of more than 100 hotels. So program participants can continue their travels while participating in the program.

They also gain access to these communities, whose members are primarily remote workers and digital nomads. This provides a rich resource for startups building tools and services targeted at distributed workers.  

Also, according to Globetrender's article SELINA CO-WORK HOTELS AND TECHNOART CREATE DIGITAL NOMAD INVESTMENT FUND, participants can apply for venture funding through the program.

Coworking is a natural extension for hotels. And Selina is taking this even one step further with this project.  

And with the continued rapid growth of digital nomadism, the timing for this effort looks quite good.

Freelancing and the Work People Love

Harvard Business Review's Designing Work That People Love covers data showing that companies should change their approach to job design and performance management to take advantage of each employee's unique skills and passions. 

Key quote:

... in ADPRI's most recent 50,000-person surveys of stratified random samples of working populations around the world, the most powerful predictors of retention, performance, engagement, resilience, and inclusion did not include pay or liking one's colleagues or work location or even a strong belief in the mission of the organization. All those provided some explanatory power, but none was as significant as these three items:

• Was I excited to work every day last week?
• Did I have a chance to use my strengths every day?
• At work, do I get a chance to do what I'm good at and something I love?

The article suggests that employers:

• view their employees as the key stakeholders in the organization;
• move away from standardization in performance management tools;
• trust their employees to accomplish their performance goals the way they see fit.

In other words, employers should provide their employees with a work experience much more like the experience many independent workers (freelancers, self-employed, etc.) have.

Most independent workers report having some level of work autonomy, flexibility, and control.

They can do work they like, when, where, and how they see fit (within commercial constraints).  

Because of this, they do work they're good at and enjoy. And this leads to them being excited by and satisfied with their work.  

Of course, many independent workers don't have work autonomy, flexibility and controls. And independent workers who report not having these attributes are, on average, dissatisfied with their work.

But most independent workers report having at least one of these attributes, and even one of these attributes leads to most reporting being satisfied with their work.

This article caught our eye because we recently wrote an HBR article that suggests employers need to make traditional full-time jobs more appealing.  

And we also suggested that employers give their workers more autonomy, control, and flexibility.

The Great Resignation - or whatever you want to call it - has been a wake-up call for employers. They need to make their jobs better for their employees.  

Providing some of the attributes of self-employment - and coupling it with predictable income, decent benefits, and reasonable job security - will lead to more engaged and productive employees.

The Rise of Crypto Clubs

The New York Times' This Social Club Runs on Crypto Tokens and Vibes covers the social club Friends With Benefits (FWB), which the article describes as a "decentralized Soho House" and a V.I.P. lounge for crypto's creative class." Key quote:

Friends With Benefits is what's known as a decentralized autonomous organization, or D.A.O. — a kind of digital co-op that uses cryptocurrency tokens to coordinate access, make payments and vote on group decisions.

Friends with Benefits works like an online country club. Key quote from Wunderman Thompson's Crypto Clubs article:

Like a country club, membership is selective, vetted and tiered. To join, prospective members must submit a written application, which a committee of current members reviews. Once approved—only 20% of applicants are admitted—admittance requires a minimum buy-in of $FWB tokens, the club's proprietary cryptocurrency, which represents meaningful ownership in the organization.

The last time we checked, it cost about $4,000 to buy enough $FWB tokens to be considered for full membership. The price moves with the price of the $FWB crypto token.  

In addition to online activities and access to their Discord server for online chats, FWB also hosts IRL (in real life) events in several cities.  

FWB is by far the best-known crypto club. But there are more every day.

A good example is Flyfish Club, which they describe as:

"... the world's first member's only private dining club where membership is purchased on the blockchain as a Non-Fungible-Token (NFT) and owned by the token-holder to gain access to our restaurant and various culinary, cultural and social experiences."

In addition to their members-only restaurant in New York City, they plan on providing IRL events and online activities.  

They have two membership levels (shown below, click to enlarge). 

A regular membership costs 2.5 ether, about $7,500 at today's prices.

The $12,500 option provides access to their "club within a club" Omakase room. The club is expected to open early next year.

These clubs sound exclusive at best, silly at worst.

But the use of cryptocurrencies and NFTs allows new forms of membership models and business models. They also make it easier for members to have ownership in the clubs and profit from them.

Most new crypto clubs allow members to rent or sell their memberships. So if the price goes up, members can profit. They can also lose money. The price of FWB's tokens, for example, has fallen quite a bit since last year.

New business and membership models that make it easier and cheaper to create and operate crypto clubs likely mean we will see many more in the future.

Not Many are Excited About the Metaverse

According to the recent Axios/Momentive What's Next 2022 Poll, only about 40% of Americans are familiar with the metaverse, and just 7% are more excited about the future because of it.

The low metaverse awareness number is also likely overstated.  

This is because when you ask about awareness of trendy or aspirational topics in surveys, you get a lot of false positives. This is especially true if the topic is trending online and in social media.

As the Axios/Momentive chart below shows (click to enlarge), younger people, not surprisingly, are more likely to say they are familiar with the metaverse than older people.

We found the survey's excitement and scared question and data (see chart above) quite interesting. 

The question is, in our opinion, oddly worded and prone to misinterpretation. So although it's interesting, we're not taking the results too seriously.  

But it does seem to indicate that few are more excited about the future because of the metaverse - even only 14% of younger respondents said they were more excited. 

Also, the scared data is, at least for the industry, scary.

Not only does one-third of respondents say the metaverse makes them more scared about the future - it's true for all age groups.

These data points indicate that the industry's excitement, hype, and hope about the metaverse may be overblown.   

It definitely shows that the metaverse industry needs to do a lot more explaining and education. 

The Axios/Momentive poll covers other topics, including consumer views on smart cities, micro-mobility, and electric vehicles.  

BTW, Momentive is the company formally known as Survey Monkey.

Etsy Sellers Going Out on Strike

Back in February, Etsy announced that in April, the site's transaction fees would be increasing from 5% to 6.5%, a 30% increase.  

Not surprisingly, many of Etsy's sellers were not pleased. And to show their displeasure, sellers have called for a strike to take place the week of April 11th.  

The sellers are not just upset about the fee increase.

They have a series of complaints against Etsy, including their mandatory marketing fees, unfair deactivations, and the growing number of sellers who aren't selling handmade products.

The Verge's Etsy sellers will go on strike in April and want customers to boycott provides more details on the demands of the sellers. Key quote on what the organizer of the strike thinks might happen:

"What would happen if on April 11th, so many sellers put their shops on vacation mode that Etsy starts shitting bricks."

We hope they'll at least be handmade bricks.

The strike's organizers hope this is the start of a broader set of collective action by sellers. Again from the Verge article:

"The strike is just action number one," she says. "What we want to really do for the future is form a solidarity support movement — peer support, artisans supporting each other."

At a minimum, the strike has caught the attention of Etsy executives. 

Key quote on Etsy's response to the strike from Gizmodo's Etsy Sellers Are Going On Strike to Prevent It From Becoming 'The Next Amazon':

"We're committed to supporting our community of 5.3 million sellers around the world by helping them grow their businesses," an Etsy spokesperson said. "Sellers have consistently told us they want us to expand our efforts around marketing, customer support, and removing listings that don't meet our policies. Our revised fee structure will enable us to increase our investments in each of these key areas so that we can better serve our community and keep Etsy a beloved, trusted, and thriving marketplace."

Collective action by independent workers is hard to organize, and successes in doing so have been rare.

But we see more and more signals that workers of all kinds are looking to band together and collectively fight for their rights. This is yet another example.