Collaboration can be magical and at Direct Create we want to weave magic. All the people who appreciate and breathe art, Direct Create is a platform for them. It is everything that a hand-producer can be and more. It is a family of true art lovers that knits them together in one unit while helping them retain and expand their individuality.
The last two decades saw the emergence of two-sided economic models championed by successful startups like Uber, Airbnb and Canva. They also heralded the gig economy, a new Digitally active avatar to its predecessor. Maturing the two-sided economic model has enabled the flattening of the buyer-seller ecosystems, upending the consumer-facing business cycles. We have built DirectCreate as a starter case for the next wave of the three-sided business cycle - the cycle that integrates all three segments of our physical world and encapsulates everything and everyone.
The next cycle of evolution for the digital economy is a shift from sharing economy to a 'Creation Economy'. And similar to the sharing economy, where the key protagonist is the buyer and seller, there are three players - Maker, Designer and Buyer in the 'Creation Economy'. Just like in the sharing ecosystems of Airbnb, the user can be a host and a guest at the same time. In a creative economy, the user can be a buyer, maker, or designer simultaneously.
The idea looks complex at first sight as we move from a two-sided model to a three-sided model. However, it fundamentally changes the conventional business models. It exponentially increases the opportunities of creating a more robust and sustainable consumer environment- something that the planet is in dire need of now.
We believe DirectCreating to be a new way of life, where everyone can consume 'exactly' what they need or want and not what the sellers want and have put on the shelf. In many ways, there is an oxymoron in the statement itself - as industry veterans will tell us that industry only makes what's needed. Still, they do an excellent job of predicting and forecasting the needs so that the stuff you will need six months from now is put into production well in time to meet your needs. The fact is that we have been so accustomed to this way of consuming for the last 100 years that we have forgotten how life was in a pre-industrial world.
The biggest disruptor and also the opportunity in the decade starting with 2021 is the fantastically connected world. We have redefined the idea of a neighbourhood, city, community, culture and pretty much everything we connect with. This brings us to the doors of the potential to be DirectCreating everything we consume, from our breakfast cereals to garments and even homes and offices. Imagine that!
That's the foundation of DC, a pioneering attempt to make collaboration and co-creation easy, as much as clicking the BUY button on Amazon or the RIDE button on uber or the BOOK NOW button on Airbnb. Of course, there is much work to be done, and we are just getting started. Still, we believe that a collective force is enabling us and all pointers reaffirm DirectCreating to achieve our collective sustainability goals and save the planet from the deluge of overconsumption.