There are now over 7 billion people in the world. And more than 5 billion of them are mobile subscribers. When you think about social, local, mobile services, you'd better be thinking global too.
Imagine living your entire life in the same place and then, one day, gaining the ability to locate yourself on Google Maps. Here in the United States we take mobile utilities for granted because they are simply an upgrade of convenience over the way we previously accomplished tasks like navigating, banking, or communicating.
Yet in many parts of Africa and Asia, these mobile utilities are predecessors to nothing. "They're allowing entire populations to leapfrog a whole array of infrastructure that didn't get developed in these places," said Michael Parekh, Managing Partner of StikCo Labs.
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Mobile phones are spreading powerful new tools into emerging nations. Suddenly there are ways to pay utility bills, book travel, and coordinate with others. It's hardly a coincidence that the "Arab Spring" revolution took place as protestors gained the ability to organize via location-enabled services like Twitter and Facebook.
"Mobile technologies can reach all nooks and crannies of the globe and offer the kinds of benefits that only such technologies can do," said Eghosa Omoigui, Managing Partner of EchoVC.
We've reached a point where entrepreneurs and investors need to think about the global impact of their product from inception.
Featured in this video:
Tony Conrad, CEO and Cofounder of About.me and Partner, True Ventures Michael Parekh, Managing Partner, StikCo Labs James D. Robinson IV, Cofounder and Managing Partner, RRE Ventures[image: Flickr user mbeo52]