Ashton Kutcher, who is as famous for his investments as he is for his looks and his work, recently took the stage at the annual Sage Summit 2016 in Chicago. Kutcher handed out plenty of useful tips to would-be entrepreneurs.
It is not a very big leap for the actor to go from one stage to another. Kutcher, who is a Hollywood A-Lister, and had portrayed Steve Jobs in his first biopic released in 2013, is the co-founder of two venture capital firms, A-Grade Investments, and Sound Ventures, and also of Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children, a platform promoting technological innovations to counter underage sexual exploitation.
One of the most important and relevant points to be highlighted by Kutcher was dealing with the issue of not knowing what was going on.
In a world where knowledge is increasingly being seen as a way to the top, he said that acknowledging one’s limitations guaranteed a better chance of survival and success in the long run, as it helped in understanding and working on the weaknesses, which would go on to stand the test of time.
Similarly, another common perception to be debunked by the actor was the importance attached to intuition. Following our intuitions, according to him, often leads us to form conclusions that may not be fully supported by realities.
He said that it is better to see things for oneself instead of having a conventional approach, and building great businesses often involves changing some of the initial ideas that are produced in our minds.
Also, the avid fan of the virtual start-up space which had once invested in Foursquare, Path, Skype and fab.com among much more told his audience that while searching for new investments, he looks for competent people who are efficient multi-taskers.
However, he admitted that after a point it is the people who specialize in the small details and are willing to follow a leader that are the biggest requirements of any venture.
As are the people who know what would cater to the consumers. He was indeed Job-ish when he said that people would automatically be interested if what they are offered are worthy enough to hold their interest. Because of this, direct communication was necessary between the consumer and the producer.
This is something to be expected from a person who told he had been aggressively interested in social media from a very early stage. He said that unlike the traditional modes of marketing, social media made investors remember that the process is always a conversation.
Maybe this is why Kutcher took to Instagram to post about the newest addition to his place, a new tech known as Amazon Echo, which was launched in 2015.
Echo is a voice-controlled speaker launched back in 2015 which is powered by the virtual assistant Alexa. It has already become very popular. The technology can order food, call an Uber, provide meteorological information and play music, as it does for the Kutcher household.
This is surely going to be a valuable addition to the lives of Kutcher and his wife Mila Kunis, who are going to be busy with their kids when they welcome their second baby later this year. Though as of yet they are exclusively using it to play Adele in their backyard, if Amazon is to be believed.