The massive design opportunity in the longevity market

The road less traveled can be full of rewards

Silicon Valley has two major problems that are indisputable:

• Diversity
• Buzzwords (Algorithm, Thought leader, AI, Innovate, Disrupt)

The former is not the latter. Racial diversity has been getting worse but at least is well documented. Often looked over is the lack of age diversity in the Valley. Both are bad and don’t make sense to me. Studies show that diverse companies are more successful than homogenous businesses, but often overlooked in those numbers are people of age 45, 50, 60 and up. Here’s a weird stat:

“As of 2016, the average age at Apple was 31; at LinkedIn, 29, Facebook, 28; and Google, 30.”

In 2012, Mark Zuckerberg allegedly said that young people “are just smarter”. His words reflect a view held in Silicon Valley that is rarely expressed, and he quickly retracted that statement after it became public.

The reality is this Mark, you might not see value in them as employees but you cannot deny their power as customers. And old people aren’t going anywhere. The longevity market is an term that describes those over the age of 45, and I would like to make the case that this demographic should become the new Silicon Valley buzzword. The longevity market possesses the needs and financial power to be an extremely lucrative market to those who design solutions to their problems.

It is estimated that Boomers control nearly 60% of the US net worth. By 2020 nearly half of the population will be over 50. This market presents a huge opportunity for innovation because they are forgotten by the mainstream technology industry.

The opportunities in this space are endless as demands for aging in place technology increase. Aging in place refers to the movement that rejects convalescent, nursing homes and dependent living for older adults by utilizing the latest technology available. One great example of this the Aging In Place Technology Watch, a website about industry market trends, research, and analysis.

One example of cutting edge technology is the ElliQ by Intuition Robotics. The ElliQ is a robot created to help make iPads and tablets more accessible that will be released later this year. Here’s a video:

The mission is to keep older adults active and engaged as they age. The coolest part about the company is that it designed the ElliQ for older adults by older adults. The ElliQ is a great example of the opportunity that exists for companies willing to expand their innovation into the longevity market.