About the talk:

Szymon Słupik spends most of the time thinking about future, trying to imagine how the world will look like in five or ten years. Obviously not the entire world, just the part he is passionate about; electronics, telecommunications, software, mobility and gadgets. He also makes a living out of this, both as a consultant, and as an investor (in the latter role by being his own best customer).

Szymon set up a software company, CDN, with two friends in 1991. Since then it has grown from 3 to 300 employees. Since 2005 he has been working with major mobile network operators to introduce innovative value added services that are now used by tens of millions of people. He is also involved in several start-ups that materialize his ideas.

Szymon believes that investing in ventures with high potential and vision can successfully monetize knowledge about the future. Everyday, he looks around and looks at people; what they do, what technologies they use, what makes them happy and what frustrates them. He thinks about what will make them happy and satisfied in a year, or in five years. Casting forward these observations on the progress of technology, he tries to unveil glimpses of the future by identifying who has the potential today to address the needs of the future.

Szymon can be followed on his blog at headworx.slupik.com.

Recorded during: TEDxKraków 2010

Original subtitles: Krystian Aparta

Translated by: Kinga Skorupska (reviewed by Krystian Aparta)