The Top Things I Learned at Davos 2015, So Far

Bill Gross of IdeaLab writes at LinkedIn:

1. First of all...they have 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.