Day: 18
By. Francis Pedraza
TrickleDown
The Idea
Before we pooh-pooh so-called “1% problems”, we would do well to remember that the flush toilet — — that most practical and indispensable of utilities (what would we do without it?) — — was once a 1% problem, a luxury of the elite, invented (apparently) by a gentleman by the name of Mr. Cumming and later, popularized by one Mr. Crapper.
Of the 7 billion people on the planet, 0.00001% of them — — 700 or so — — enjoy extreme wealth and fame. But like the rest of us, they still have problems.
Here’s the pitch to them: “we will solve any and every problem you have in your life.” Recruit a world-class team of specialists. Go to extraordinary lengths to solve each problem. Over-deliver. But for a price. A price nobody else could afford.
There’s a catch, of course. Once you’ve solved their problems, and they’ve paid your hefty fee, you turn the deal around on them. “Beyoncé dear, now that we’ve designed the one and only wardrobe in the world that can please you, may we sell it, using your name, to the public?”. Everyone wants to buy Beyoncé’s wardrobe. So those who can afford it, will.
You never know… 100 years from now, they might call getting dressed “taking a Beyoncé.”
Don’t be shy — reply!
What dots connect when you read this? Let your imagination roam free and send your thoughts over email to francis+cheeky@invisible.email! If your contribution is selected, we’ll showcase it below…
Discussion
Alex Foster
! Very clever, I laughed out loud on the tube!
Halim Madi
! I think finding the right helicopter, queuing for the next iPhone and the like are “essentials” for the 0.000001%!
> Let’s call it “Francium”. “Francium, an alkali metal measured but never isolated in any weighted quantity or seen in a way that the eye can detect — one of the most unstable, enigmatic elements on the Earth. No one knows what it looks like in an appreciable form, but there it is, scattered throughout ores in the Earth’s crust.” — Sarah Lewis — The Rise
> Franciums are elite designers, security experts, import-export professionals, molecular gastronomists (we can recruit in the Thousand Network and the such)… Unique individuals with unique skills to whom we only suggest to appear on the website with a beautiful picture and an out-of-this-world description. They won’t say no.
_ A tense relationship? Our molecular gastronomist prepared a crazy dinner for you and Russel, Katy Perry, here’s the place, here’s the time, here’s the flight ticket. Yes? Madame! Francium is here for you.
Jonathan Andrew Wolter
_ There are a series of problems the ultra wealthy have to deal with. Personal security is one of them. Generally they all have personal security consultants as well as teams to remove obsessive fans or protesters from their property, etc. (I bet none of you thought of the complications they have to deal with.) A good book that gives insight in this is The Gift of Fear. Unfortunately that is a nuisance need (e.g. they don’t want to have to solve that problem), and it does not translate too much to middle class and other demographics.
