Nearly 100 years ago Keynes wrote his essay Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren which feels rather pertinent today…
“We are suffering just now from a bad attack of economic pessimism. It is common to hear people say that the epoch of enormous economic progress which characterised the nineteenth twentieth century is over; that the rapid improvement in the standard of life is now going to slow down - at any rate in Great Britain; that a decline in prosperity is more likely than an improvement in the decade which lies ahead of us.”
This is the picture presented in the Citrini Research essay going around this week. But, to quote Keynes, “I believe that this is a wildly mistaken interpretation of what is happening to us”, or at least of what could and should happen to us if we wake up and steer ourselves to a future of technological abundance.
We’ve got 4.5 years to prove Keynes right.
LFG 🚀
Oh and we’ll be diving into the 15 hour work week and the future of work at our next After Hours Salon on the 16th!
There’s even a hack on the topic in 2 weeks! https://luma.com/emtfkvtj?tk=XWtldG
Have a vision for something new in the London ecosystem? Want to host an event? Want to lead a floor?
Say hi in the WhatsApp group - https://chat.whatsapp.com/CchkLAJxDNC4fF3UNf6Ei8 - or speak to Lachlan.
Noticeboard:
London Biocompute Challenge
Calum & James from London Biocompute are running a “devious biological challenge” in their cloud lab where total outsiders to biology can compete with wet lab scientists and academics. Can you find a clever optimisation strategy that beats someone with years of benchwork intuition? Could you even vibe-code your way to the top of the leaderboard?
https://londonbiocompute.com/5050 Applications Extended!
If you’re a scientist contemplating starting your own venture, 5050 is a free, 14-week part-time company creation programme. Applications have been extended a week. Ping me and I can put a word in if you need a few extra days.
https://50y.typeform.com/5050-apps
Get Involved:
Town Hall Call
Join us at midday every other Wednesday to hear updates, brainstorm new ideas and meet the community.
> get it in ya calendar
Next one:
Wednesday, 4 March · 12:00 – 12:30pm
https://meet.google.com/ohp-nthp-uxm
Frontier Dinners
We are hosting a series of curated +1 dinners across the different verticals of our community to create a space to share expertise from the frontiers of technology.
The robotics dinner was incredible. Next up we’ll be addressing the role of Blockchain in “How we Trust in a Post AI World” and then diving deep into NeuroTech and “Unlocking the Brain” on the 19th March.
Suggest a theme for our next dinner here: https://luma.com/56qcomri
Till next time,
Lachlan and the FT Team
Our Events:
Frontier Tower London Mixer
Monday 2nd March, 7pm, The Eagle
Back for some casual drinks. Come chat with the Frontier Tower London team, meet other likeminded founders and find out how to get involved.
After Hours Salon: The Future of Work
It’s also time for the next After Hours Salon. The same winning format. We’ll start the discussion amongst a few sector specialists then let it propagate into informal chats.
https://luma.com/h5jdkxwu
The People have spoken and we will be debating:
Will we finally see the 15 hour work week? The Singularity and the Future of Work.
Almost 100 years ago Keynes predicted that technology would lead to a 15 hour work week, largely for our own sanity. We have not seen it. Might AI finally usher it in?
Frontier Dinners: Join the Next One
Suggest a topic here: https://luma.com/56qcomri
Events from our Friends:
Hackathons:
If you’re working on cool things and want us to feature them, let me know!