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The Brilliant Entrepreneurial Lessons of a Plant Hacker Inventing New Flowers

inventing flowers

To raise money to put himself through school and earn a biotechnology degree, Sebastian Cocioba would gather orchids that his local Home Depot had thrown out and apply a plant growth serum to bring them back to life so he could sell them back to the store. Later, he would buy used lab equipment in … Read more

Short Form Video Is Back and It Might Actually Have Been a Great Idea After All

Drama box

Four years ago, with much fanfare (and budget), a platform called Quibi emerged with the promise that people would watch short vertical episodic shows and that would be the future of entertainment. Then, despite their $1.75 billion funding, they crashed and burned. Around the same time, TikTok was just starting to take off. Since then, the growth … Read more

Adobe Helps Creators Protect Their Work with Digital Content Credentials

Content Credentials

You would expect Adobe, a company that has millions of professional creators using their software tools every day to find ways to support that community. Their newly-announced Content Credentials feature is a way to add metadata specifically to images and video that can certify the rights of the creator. As the challenge of digital rights continues to … Read more

The Problem with Leather

Problem with leather

Have you ever seen a product promoted as being made with “vegan leather?” Assuming you have, do you actually know what that means? It turns out this is just one example of the growing problem faced by fashion brands using any form of leather in their products. There are new leathers made from plant materials like … Read more

Remaking Classic Cars into the EVs of the Future

Classic cars EV remodels

When I was a kid and we would travel to India, all the taxis looked the same. The model that dominated back then, and for decades before and after was the Ambassador—alternately described as “virtually indestructible” and voted “the world’s best taxi.” Despite the fact that the factory making them operated from the 50s until closing in 2014, … Read more

Can Tech in Cars Make Us More Considerate or Better Drivers?

Nissan

As part of our Olympics trip this summer, we made a side visit to Lyon and drove across the border to Switzerland. Driving in Europe, one thing that became immediately clear is that drivers there understand the concept of a passing lane. In most places across the US, this seems to be a concept that … Read more

This Chatbot Could Actually Change Minds … Using Facts?!

Debunk chatbot

The prevailing wisdom about human behaviors and beliefs today is that facts are not persuasive in changing minds or shifting beliefs. Usually, it’s true. That’s one reason why there is so much focus on becoming a better storyteller and why every category from politicians to breakfast cereal marketers primarily relies on stories to connect with … Read more

Why I Paid Human Musicians + Artists to Create the Sonic Identity for My Podcast

Non Obvious Show

Earlier this week I posted on LinkedIn about a project that my team and I have been working on for nearly a year. During the pandemic, I created a video show which many of you watched. After a smart suggestion (and fair criticism) from Chhavi about how two heads talking wasn’t really compelling on video … I … Read more

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#1 WSJ & USA Today Bestselling Author

In addition to Non-Obvious Thinking, Rohit is the author of 10 books on trends, the future of business, building a more human brand with storytelling and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world.

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