Karsten Lemm

The Future of Money

Tech analyst Paul Saffo in front of an ATM in Silicon Valley

The moment of truth for any analyst and forecaster comes when looking back: five years on, how true or false do your predictions turn out to be? Well, kudos to Paul Saffo, Managing Director of Foresight at Discern Analytics and former Director of the Institute For the Future (as well as one of the smartest men I’ve met in almost 15 years of covering business and technology in Silicon Valley).

When I interviewed Paul in 2009 for Earlybird Magazine, he correctly foresaw the rise of big-banking challengers like Square, accurately predicted the push into mobile payments via smartphones, and even speculated about the rise of a virtual world currency. Bitcoin anyone?

The Q&A is available as a free download via Slideshare.

Earlybird Magazine Q&A with futurist Paul Saffo
Earlybird Magazine Q&A with futurist Paul Saffo

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