Young Innovators: "Think Different!"
These five inspiring young people carry on the torch of innovation (and hope) in their various fields and disciplines
In 1998, Apple created perhaps the most inspiring television commercial in history. You might remember ‘Think Different” (click to view) which featured a collage of famous pioneers who changed the world. Narrated by actor Richard Dreyfuss, the spot was an homage to innovation …
“the crazy ones … the misfits … the rebels … the troublemakers… the ones who see things differently.”
“Think Different,” of course, was inspired by Apple founder Steve Jobs, who with partner Steve Wozniak indeed shook the world with their vision.
Though we live in a radically different world today — a world of divisiveness and hostility — the spirit of discovery and ingenuity lives on. Despite the generational hauteur, specifically the contempt aimed towards the seemingly indolent Millennials and Gen Z, there survives groups of exceptional young people who carry on Jobs’ torch of hope in their various fields and disciplines.
Here are just a few of the young innovators, all under age 45 … the ones who think differently … the ones who are changing the world.
Arturo Elizondo, 29
Co-Founder, CEO of Clara Foods
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
Better yet, can the egg come without the chicken? The answer is yes, and Arturo Elizondo is using animal-free egg products to revolutionize the future of world health and nutrition.
Currently, elimination of global poverty has progressed exponentially over the past 50 years. With advancements in technology and growth of global markets, world hunger – aside from environmental catastrophes – is disappearing. Even in sub-Saharan Africa, malnutrition is decreasing exponentially. (Conversely, world-wide adiposity is growing. But that’s a topic for another day.)
Currently, the process of feeding the world is inefficient and unsustainable. The cost-per-protein/calorie, whether plant- or animal-based, is exorbitant.
Elizondo, CEO of Clara Foods, is working to reduce foodstuff inefficiencies. The 29-year-old son of Mexican immigrants is forging culinary and nutrition futures with his animal-free, clean protein source. The Silicon Valley-based company, founded in 2014, has developed a fermentation technology (using DNA sequencing) that uses yeast to convert sugar directly into egg proteins … pretty much the same way brewers make beer.
These proteins are a cheaper and greener replacement for the estimated 1 trillion eggs consumed world-wide every year. Clara products can safely be used to go into everything from baked goods and mayonnaise to dietary supplements and pharmaceuticals.
Tristan Harris, 38
Co-Founder, President of the Center for Humane Technology
How do you ethically steer the thoughts and actions of two billion people’s minds every day?
If Tristan Harris looks familiar, it’s not surprising. The soft-spoken 38-year-old former Google executive was the star of Netflix’ 2021 groundbreaking documentary The Social Dilemma. He and other young techies have traveled the world exhorting a message of responsible use and management of technology, particularly targeting social media giants Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linked-In.
Harris’ admonition that technological benevolence and utility has given way to profit and mind control has far-reaching consequences. Data gathering and manipulation processes by techno-giants are radically altering all segments of society, rewiring the human mind in ways we aren’t close to understanding. The consequences are devastating, leading to destructive, divisive behaviors and destroying interpersonal relationships.
"The fundamental problem for humanity is we have paleolithic brains ... Medieval institutions (i.e. ineffective government) ... and God-like technologies." -- Tristan Harris
The Stanford grad founded a small tech company in 2007, which eventually was purchased by Google in 2011, where he became as a design ethicist. However, alarmed at the ethics (or lack thereof), Harris left Google in Dec., 2015.
In the aftermath, he founded The Center for Humane Technology, with a mission of restoring moral consciousness to the industry. He has delivered TED Talks, testified before Congress, appeared on countless television shows and podcasts, served as keynote speaker and is in heavy demand at industry workshops and seminars around the globe.
Andrea Ponti, 37
Founder and Design Director, Ponti Design Studio (Hong Kong)
Everybody likes cool stuff. Andrea Ponti designs cool stuff … everything from smart watches to deluxe luggage to industrial-sized robots. Perhaps he channels da Vinci in his dreams?
Ponti is an Italian designer specializing in product and industrial design. His passport must be interesting. Born in Cagliari, Italy, he was educated at the Politecnico of Milan, Italy. He later moved to Japan between 2006, where he started as a researcher of industrial and transportation design at Kyushu University in Fukuoka. He eventually founded Ponti Design Studio in Hong Kong in 2013.
The diversity and ingenuity of his work is astonishing. His portfolio includes Playplus One™, a designer gaming exercise bike, Powerwatchs™ 1 and 2 (smartwatches powered by body heat) and Uno™, an AGV industrial robotic delivery system that incorporates AI (Artificial Intelligence) to perform multiple functions.
Ponti’s projects “combine the elegance of Italian design with the minimalism of Japanese design.” Funky stuff. Clients include Panasonic, Philips, Oppo, Haier, Samsonite and The Peninsula Hotels. Products focus on technology and sustainability, but reflect the aesthetic dualism of East and West.
Ponti has earned several prestigious international awards, including the iF Design Award, the Red Dot Design Award and the Good Design Award.
Jing Liu, 42
Principal, SO-IL (Architecture)
Talk about reach and influence. Travel to about a dozen of the world’s great cities and you’ll find modern marvels, structures created by SO-IL, the visionary architecture firm based in Brooklyn, NY.
Jing’s buildings are modernistic, open, stylized … yet remain functional and understated. She leads all of her projects from the ground up, then all the way down to the details of window locks.
She considers all aspects of design and construction — from the building’s place in a community and, in particular, its aesthetic presence in unique cultural landscapes. In other words, they fit in while standing out.
Her primary skills combine digital technology with traditional craft. Ergonomically, her floor plans are designed to “re-engage people with the physical world around them.” Her specialty is museum design, though other public projects span the globe.
Clients include contemporary art museums in Shanghai, China, Hong Kong, Seoul, South Korea, Lisbon and New York, and living spaces/condos in Leon, Mexico, Milan and Brooklyn, NY among others.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, 21
Cellist, Recording Artist and Concert Performer
Few instruments are as ethereal and haunting in its beauty and elegance as the cello. In the hands of a virtuoso, the cello can enthrall and mesmerize, delight then hypnotize. Most celebrated master cellists take years to become classically trained and technically proficient in their craft. Sheku Kanneh-Mason is an exception. He is 21, and at that tender age already is considered one of the world’s greatest cellists.
Kannah-Mason began playing cello at age 6. He was first recognized as a world class artist in 2016 (age 15) when he won the BBC Young Musician competition, becoming the first ever black musician to take that title.
But it was his performance at the Royal Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) that vaulted him stardom. It is estimated that the performance was seen by nearly 2 billion people.
In the interim, Kanneh-Mason has gone on to record two chart-topping albums (Classical) and performed with renowned orchestras on four continents. His recitals, many with his sister Isata, also have received international acclaim. The most famous came in 2020 for the BBC Proms, where the duo gave a jaw-dropping performance of Rachmaninov’s Sonata for Cello and Piano. (click for YouTube performance).
But Sheku and Isata aren’t the only talented members of the Kanneh-Mason family. They have four younger siblings who are also classical musicians and future maestros. The entire family performed twice a week via live streams from their home in Nottingham, England during the early pandemic lock downs.
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Script to “Think Different”
“Here's to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them,
glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
While some may see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
“Think Different” – 1998
Harris may be the most critically important, yet painfully overlooked thinker of this moment in history. Good stuff.
Good to remember the crazy ones. Good read James!