It’s easy to have an opinion about the future.
It’s significantly more challenging to share that opinion as a public prediction.
Last year, Clubhouse was all the rage. It was a fast growing start-up that was causing a stir due to its audio-only approach. Users could drop into a room, listen to live conversations, and also take part.
When people such as Elon Musk, Naval, and Gary Vee started using the platform, there was massive momentum forming around Clubhouse’s prospects.
Then came along Shaan Puri, who back in March 2021 posted a brutal opinion on Clubhouse, it’s product, and it’s prospects.
Puri needed to wait 15 months before reality caught up to his predictions. Clubhouse is currently struggling. Despite finding early traction, its failed to convert it into sustainable and retentive growth in users.
My broader reflection here is reality will eventually prove us right or wrong. And if we share our predictions publicly, we have to deal with those predictions standing alone without a verdict for days, weeks, months, or even years. That shouldn’t stop us from forming an opinion though, because something happens when we say it publicly — it forces us to adopt a higher standard of rigour and care in what we’re sharing with the world.