Top 10 things I learned in Davos

It’s nearing the end of Day 2 of the World Economic Forum in Davos of 2015. I have attended 20 sessions and multiple round-table dinners and lunches. It’s almost too much to take in, but I’ve been doing my best. Here are 10 of the most interesting things I’ve learned so far.

1. First of all, there is a LOT of security here. There are about 2,500 attendees, but nearly 5,000 army, guards, and police. There is full TSA-like security every time you enter the building and many of the hotels.

2. I learned that “Phablets” or larger phones that are sort of like half phone / half tablet are taking over in sales. I also learned that more than 1 billion Smartphones will ship in 2015.

3. I learned that even with the huge Ebola scare that we heard so much about in 2014, that there are many other causes of death that outnumber Ebola by 1000’s of times.

4. I learned from Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook that most of the developed world spends about $1.25 / day for data connectivity, or about equal to what most of the developing world spends per day on EVERYTHING!

5. I learned that Apps revenues per year now exceed Hollywood’s revenues / year!

6. I learned a great philosophy to stay young from a 91-year-young Shimon Peres. He said:

Count the number of achievements in your life.

Count the number of the dreams in your brain.

If the number of your dreams exceeds your achievements then you are young.

7. I Iearned that the Global Internet Population has grown by 10x in 15 years, and nearly 100x in 20 years.

8. I learned that it’s gone down from nearly 20 years to as low as 2 years for a company to grow a billion dollar valuation. Look how it’s getting shorter and shorter below.

9. I learned how little land it takes to power the entire earth with solar energy.

10. Finally, I learned that despite the possible cynicism about an event like the World Economic Forum, most of the people who have come here truly want to make the world a better place. The Forum brings in so many Young Global Leaders, and so many passionate Social Entrepreneurs that their spirit and the program ends up leading to great knowledge exchange and hopefully lasting commitments that go on beyond the close of the conference. I know that I am inspired to follow through on projects I have already started and have new ideas for things that I would like to start that can hopefully make a very positive impact.

More to come, as the Conference Progresses.

This article is published in collaboration with LinkedIn. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: Bill Gross Influencer Founder and CEO of Idealab.

Image: Arun Jaitley (R), Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting of India is beeing interviewed by Andrew R. Sorkin (L), Columnist, The New York Times, USA; Young Global Leader Alumnus during the session ‘An Insight, An Idea with Arun Jaitley’ in the congress centre at the Annual Meeting 2015 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 22, 2015. WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM.