Welcome to Olympus
In 2019, I had the privilege of visiting Greece and came across the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens. Even after 2,435 years, it still stands, nearly unblemished, unlike so many of the other temples from this era.
Why?
It’s remarkable looking at something built almost 2,500 years ago. The imagination can only attempt to construct an image of the time passing by. By comparison, the Roman Colosseum has been around for 1,940 years, the Eiffel Tower for 130, and the Empire State Building for 88.
As of 2020, the average human life expectancy is ~72.6 years. Ignoring the fact that for the majority of humanity’s existence, life expectancy was far lower, this temple has been standing for over 33 full generations. You, your parents, and your grandparents only compose 3 of these 33 generations. And yet here it is, still standing!
Out of all the other ancient relics, why did this one survive? Why didn’t it get ransacked like the Parthenon, or the Temple of Zeus? Why is this temple still standing? Were there fundamental qualities that protected it? Was it unpopular and undesirable? Or, was it just lucky?
These are some of the questions I’m keen to explore as I examine corporations, technology, and society, and evaluate where they’re heading. A number of remarkable writers and analysts cover tech - from the day to day news sites, to tech-focused investors, to the lone analysts offering unmatched insights and perception. Forged on Olympus will not compete with these publications. Instead, I will tackle the long-term time horizons, and provide hypotheses for the overarching ramifications of technology.
If we had asked the average Athenian which temples would have survived the next thousands of years, I’m sure very few would have picked this one. We can never know for certain, but this question remains relevant: our predictions are judged in the markets daily as we pick stocks, forecast yields, and invest in startups.
I imagine, like the average Athenian, I will not always be right in my predictions, but I hope my writing makes you pause to consider what the future looks like. We can never know for certain what will unfold, but my goal is to have this writing help guide us as we wonder towards this together.
I’m eager to make it worthwhile.
