Throwback Tuesday: About the brand
TenFutures' identify takes inspiration from climate action, scale and the digital world. Here's a look back at the genesis and first launch in 2018.
About this post
This is Tenfold's MUSINGS#2. It should take you about 3-5 minutes to read.
AI disclosure
No AI use. All content was written and reviewed by the author.Tenfold is a blog and content universe by TenFutures, my broader digital platform.
And TenFutures has been around for a little while now. It's a platform I started to work on back when I lived in the Netherlands in the 2010s, that I officially launched (for the first time) when I moved to New York in 2018. At the time I was waiting for a work permit and wanted to keep busy so I started to write about climate impact investing.
Today, things are a little different. I have time to write after wrapping up my time at S&P Global. And I have a lot more experience and a longer-term game plan (more on that soon). But what has not changed is the foundational identify behind the platform.
So here goes for a first ‘Throwback Tuesday’ (I’m not sure that’s a thing). An unedited reprint of a blog I first published on the 23rd of May 2018.
The origin story - What the brand has to say
The launch of TENFUTURES results from a long personal journey. From idea to online platform, it has taken inspiration from a great many places. Let me tell you something about the brand so that you can understand the idea.
Leading with passion
By the time I was ten - in 1995 - world leaders convened for the first Conference of the Parties on climate change. Twenty years later, in December 2015, the Paris Agreement was (finally) reached, bringing together 195 signatories behind the common goal to limit the global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels.
My passion for climate action grew in parallel, and I followed my own journey to figure out how best to contribute. I came to understand the scale and urgency of the challenge. I realized the need for clear incentives to drive change and the importance of finance in this picture. I faced the reality that ethically-driven policies would not be enough. And so I decided to focus on action that makes financial sense.
But why the name - TENFUTURES - I hear you ask? As you would hope, it tells a story.
An inspiring number
My inspiration started with a number: 1010, ten to the power of ten, ten billion. This number, among other things, is the number of people which are expected to live on Earth sometime after 2050 and above which the global population is forecast to stabilize. Ten billion!
Besides its tenth power, the number ten evokes orders of magnitude and scale, from the infinitesimally small to the infinitely large within which the complexity of our world plays out. Understanding the idea of scale is fundamental to climate action.
Breaking things down further ‘10’ is a ‘1’ and a ‘0’: the foundation of the digital world. At a time when data is everywhere and the singularity is becoming a very real possibility, that is a fascinating thing to explore and leverage.
Looking ahead
So what about the ‘futures’ part of the name? Well, one must look ahead at the future. Actually, futureS, plural. I believe we should cater to the great diversity this world has to offer, and be curious and open-minded in our quest for solutions.
Poetic, but not only. ‘Futures’ is also a financial term about contracts used to set the future value of something. It is also an anchor to the world of economics and finance, in which things must get done.
The platform
So there we go. Climate, scale, data, finance. Welcome to TENFUTURES, where climate action makes financial sense. But what about the three pillars: blog, solutions and fund? Stay tuned, I will explain this in the next post on strategy. (Note: perhaps I will publish another Throwback Tuesday on this soon).
Bonus: about the logo
Let me tell you something about the logo. A simple ‘10’. Well, there is a little more under the hood. Here is its creation in a few easy steps.
Let’s start with the first three orders of magnitude of the number 10. 100 = 1, which can be represented with a 1x1 square. 101 = 10, a 10x1 line. 102 = 100, a 10x10 square.
Now let’s see what we can build with that. Join the small square and the line to make a 1. Convert the big square to make a zero. We have a 10.
Next, how can you evoke both data and climate change? How about a dash through the zero at 23.4 degrees? That makes it look digital, plus it’s the tilt of the Earth’s axis. While you’re at it, why not harmonise the 1, by cutting it at the same angle? Add some magic thanks to Multitude and Jo de Greeuw. There we go!
Well done! You made it. Here's a quick poll. And of course, message me if you have questions, ideas or comments.