Gig-economy the new economy: Dragon
The newest member of the next generation of Dragon’s Den was in town Thursday talking about what she called her “gospel” – innovation, and why entrepreneurs must embrace it.
Nicole Verkindt, 32, is already a veteran entrepreneur. She started her first business at 23 and at 27 invented software that trades offsets online. She’s also on CBC’s Next Gen
Den. It’s geared toward entrepreneurs under 40, asking for $100,000 or less for technology startups.
Verkindt was the guest speaker at E-Connect, a FastStart Fleming College event held at Market Hall on Thursday night that drew about 150 people.
FastStart is a program that offers youth the opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship.
During her talk, Verkindt spoke about the role of entrepreneurs, technology, innovation and women’s roles in business now and in the future.
With her father just moving to Peterborough, Verkindt said she’s just getting to know the area.
She was surprised to learn about the city’s rich industrial and manufacturing history.
The Toronto resident was also surprised to see downtown parking meters that only accepted coins and that Uber was non existent.
Uber is taxi company that’s ordered with an app. It’s often cheaper than regular taxis, quicker to arrive and riders can share a trip with others going route to cut costs. Drivers use their own vehicles and payment goes directly through the app.
Verkindt wondered why Uber hadn’t made its way to the Electric City, when the technology is there for the taking.
Her talk Thursday focused on leveraging changes in technology, such as Uber, and what innovation really looks like.
There’s often a misconception that innovation should resemble Einstein working in a laboratory – but that’s not the case, she said.
Innovation can broken into small steps, like adopting technology to make you more competitive, having multiple streams of income or continuing to learn those new skills.
“Over 80 per cent of entrepreneurship is adapt-adopt, so it’s adapting some technology that already exists somewhere else and adopting it to your own use,” she said.
As technology continues to evolve, creating a new economy, it’s important to embrace it and find opportunities within it, Verkindt said.
That new economy is what she calls the “gig-economy,” where people can pick up work here and there on online platforms.
As a result of today’s evolving digital world, Verkindt said it’s essential to keep learning new skills, rather than just getting an education and finding that forever job.
“This new economy changes every single aspect of our life ... we all need to understand what’s happening, adapt to it and be committed to taking on and learning these new skills as it evolves and see it as a big opportunity,” Verkindt said.