The Atlantic Asks Tech Experts: Which Startup Will Change the World?

Well, they asked experts more than that—a lot more than that. In a fantastic infographic released for November's issue, the magazine surveyed inventors, CEOs, tech innovators, and researchers about everything from Apple Watch ownership to Best Science Fiction Novel to Presidential Election sentiment. The goal of this survey isn't to get a snapshot of the everyman perspective, but rather a feel for what the movers and shakers at the heart of the digital revolution think is important. Needless to say, the results are fascinating.

Check out the full infographic here, but some takeaways below:

-23% of respondents said Uber was the most overvalued tech company (for a "startup with no physical assets," says Alok Bhanot of Verifone), yet it came in second in the list of "apps you could not live without."

-Gavin Hall of TED likened false claims that we're in a tech bubble to the preposterous claim that 100 years ago we were in an electricity bubble. Is it time for us to stop predicting the fall of the digital era and accept that things have changed forever, Twitter layoffs aside?

-But those Twitter layoffs. When asked which companies will still be in business in 20 years, Twitter came in second to last, just before Yahoo. Apple, Google, and Amazon topped the list as having staying power.

-There didn't seem to be any major agreement on which startup will change the world, though there was exuberance for Elon Musk (who also won the imaginary Silicon Valley presidential election.) Interestingly, these tech experts value the innovation skills of Elon Musk over any startup in particular, excluding Theranos, which he was tied with. The excitement over Theranos points to the slow but steady momentum in startups to do with remote diagnostics and medical disruption. The experts also said we need Uber for healthcare most of all.

-Ex Machina fans around the world despair: Aaron Patzer of Fountain.com says "we are far further from AI sentience than you are lead to believe."

-The vast majority reported working between 60 and 69 hours per week. I'm exhausted just looking at that stat.

-Surprisingly, nearly half of them said they are "unreachable" at one time or another. I guess if you work 70 hours per week on average, it's crucial to take tech breaks on a remote island every now an then.

-Maria Alegre of Chartboost says that "not enough examples of working mothers means everyone makes silly generalizations about 'what mothers care about.'"

-A huge majority of the respondents know that gender and race equality in the industry is a huge problem, with most rating the problem an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.

-A depressing stat: 74% believe that the Sony Hack could happen to their organization.

-An uplifting thought? Everyone hates the selfie stick as much as you do.

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Original source: The Atlantic Asks Tech Experts: Which Startup Will Change the World?.
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