In addition, two-thirds of the world’s GDP growth over the next
fifty years will occur in cities. Cities will not only attract the best talent,
but manufacture the best talent. The competition and opportunities
are similar to rallying with Chris Evert—your game just gets better. In
many countries, like the UK and France, one city is responsible for 50
percent of the nation’s GDP. Seventy-five percent of large firms are
located in what could be called a global supercity. Over the next twenty
years, this tendency will likely increase, as firms now need to follow
talented young people, not vice versa. Icons of yesteryear are opening
urban campuses, prioritizing kids with beards, tattoos, and
engineering degrees over people with kids.
It’s fairly easy to apply the T Algorithm. I told Nike that to have a
shot at a trillion, they would need to do three things:
Increase percentage of direct-to-consumer retail to 40 percent
within ten years (closer to 10 percent in 2016).
Gain greater facility with data and how to incorporate into
product features.
Move their headquarters from Portland.As I learned, the algorithm is the easy part. Getting them to listen
to you (“You need to relocate HQ from Portland”) is the hard part.