For both individuals and Governments around the world, this means one thing: more competition. Just as with companies, the only sensible response is to get better at what we do, continue raising the bar and create industries and ideas that didn’t previously exist. And that means getting better educated. With a finite amount of money to go round, start-ups in the education sector have a vital role in delivering new, cheaper and more pervasive methods to learn. Because if we rely on the State, it just isn’t going to happen. So to Edmodo, School of Everything, Beanbag, TeachStreet, Social Media Classroom, Startl and Revolution Learning . Keep doing what you’re doing.

I’m reading Steven Gary Blank’s book, the Four Steps to Epiphany, at the moment. One of the big points he makes in his book is that too many companies have a fixed trajectory: we know what’s right, all we have to do is get people to realize it. In his mind, the winners and losers can be separated by their willingness to listen and adapt; getting it right with a new product in a new field is an iterative process, not a ‘tah-dah’ moment. From a personal perspective, I’ve always liked the analogy of the glider vs the 747 for launching a new product. You might want to programme in the route before you take off, just like you would in a commercial 747, but its more likely you’ll follow the path of the glider and go where the thermals are just to stay aloft. The good thing is its more fun that way and you never know, you might end up in a better place.