The American essayist and poet Henry David Thoreau once said that the “mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation … there is no play in them, for this comes after work”. For a lot of people truer words have never been spoken. In our culture, we draw an extremely hard line between work and play. You need to work in order to earn money. That money gives you enough resources to do something completely different, called play. That’s how the world works. Can’t do much about it. In the words of Ol’ Frank, that’s life. And so, as we finish school, we are urged to put our dreams to one side. Well intentioned members of the older guard present us with the facts on the ground, and their conclusion is often the same. Get real. Grow up. Get a job.

Kinda sucks.

But also, kinda not true.

We are at the crest of a revolution in technology that is enabling people to live in a completely different way. Advances in communication systems and logistics networks are making it possible for everyday people like you and me to live a life of discovery, enjoyment, inspiration and love. The mass economics of automation on the one hand, and the creative potential of the internet on the other, actually make it more reasonable to live like an artist.

New tools are being created every day that focus on turning consumers into creators and owners. In the old world, the tools that were made used to focus on formal business clients with deep enough pockets to afford expensive products. The likes of Adobe, Google Suite, Dropbox and others created incredible businesses by selling mainly to other businesses.

A few years ago, tools such as social media enabled some influential people to earn a living through mass advertising and spin off products and endorsements. Since then they’ve gone on to become major businesses, brands and cultural figures in their own right.

Today, a new generation of tools are being created that focus on ordinary people, with extraordinary passion. In the old world, these people would work a main job to pay the bills and do what they love on the side. In the future, these people will be able to find a way to truly earn a living by doing what they love.

One thing that everybody loves is music. We’ve spent a lot of time building a really simple tool that helps people who love music grow an audience and eventually earn revenue, simply by creating and sharing their own radio shows, podcasts and mixes.

It’s cheaper than ever to make content. But it’s harder than ever to make content stand out. So we’ve spent time figuring out how to help people get above the noise, simply by focusing on quality, and being themselves.

It’s so important these days to build relationships. But with so much data around it’s confusing to know where to start. So we’ve spent time learning how to help people build communities, simply by knowing more about them.

We like to think that this kind of tool presents the beginning of a new model of internet powered entrepreneurship. One where creativity, individuality and quality wins out over the quick, dirty model of fast food content. The shift will be seismic, and the world will be a better place for it.

To see what we built, head over to https://keakie.com/ or get in touch with the team for more.

Stay Young,

Eloka