Idea: 35
Wednesday, 04 February 2015
By. Francis Pedraza
TrickleDown
Solve problems for the extremely rich and famous… then pay them for it.
:-D
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. (So I suppose we’d call this special subset of problems “Point Oh Oh Oh Oh — I so wish I had your — 1% 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. That’s the whole point of an ultra luxury service, anyway, isn’t it? One way to think of it is… “IDEO for the (extremely) rich and famous”.
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? Entice her to say “yes” by offering a large cut of the profits and appeal to her vanity. Then turn around, take the ultra-premium and extremely innovative wardrobe you’ve designed, and figure out how to mass-produce it. 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.”
