Concentration abounds in the finance sector. Just four banks are larger than all of the nation’s community banks combined. Three firms are the largest shareholder in 88% of all S&P 500 firms. Five metro areas account for more than 70% of all venture capital investment in the US. The insurance market is similarly concentrated as private equity firms continue to roll-up independent brokers to the detriment of both carriers and customers.

Yet, technology is completely revamping how the financial and insurance worlds operate. Banks and traditional institutions are playing an increasingly smaller role, while fintech innovations, alternative and shadow banks, neobanks, flash loans, smart contracts, subscription models, and NFT’s are proliferating. The entire playing field of the banking sector and financial markets is changing as decentralized finance (“defi”) takes hold. Friction between those seeking to access or invest their own money or tap into funding for ventures is decreasing and the once locked gates are beginning to crack open for all. We’ve barely begun to see the magnitude of innovation to come or the ways it might lead to a more democratic society.

Over 150 years, the US increasingly embraced an educational system that mirrored institutional era theories. Enormous school districts, bigger and bigger classes, exorbitant costs and an emphasis on mass standardization all aimed at filtering students to an increasingly expensive college experience that can financially burden the very students whom higher education is supposed to lift up. And, like other sectors of society, technology has mostly been aimed at increasing efficiency of the institution rather than radically rethinking how to deliver the utility it was supposed to provide.

While COVID exposed just how far behind the technological times many of our nations’ schools are, it also accelerated the disruption of education as kids and young adults have been forced to learn from home. At the same time, TikTok has become one of the largest learning platforms in a world of short-form content and Roblox hosts more students every month than all school-going children in the U.S., U.K., and Canada combined. These (and many other) games, apps and platforms merely foreshadow what education might look like when we reimagine it through a direct-to-students lens. And, as we think about the skills that will be in demand in the digital future, one must question the utility of higher education as a means for achieving economic mobility and thriving. When we remove the institutions traditionally at the center of education, we can begin to conceive entirely new ways for education to be enlightening, uplifting and life-changing.

The United States has one of the most complex healthcare systems in the world. It mirrors industrial era models with big health systems, big hospitals and escalating costs. And, here as well, COVID has had a dramatic impact. Beyond overwhelming doctors, nurses, emergency rooms and ICUs, it also dramatically accelerated engagement with digital technologies and virtual/remote models of care.

Where we once couldn’t imagine telemedicine en masse, we now find ourselves imagining the possibilities of decentralized healthcare, not just for routine visits but for much of our care. Smart devices and radical advances in medical equipment, alongside economic shifts that make healthcare systems more accountable, will push more and more healthcare to the home and other (non-healthcare) locations. And, as this shifts healthcare further away from entrenched institutions, it is opening an incredible array of opportunity for innovation—not just for new tools and technologies but for entirely new decentralized models and providers of care.

Industrialization changed the way we grow and purchase our food, moving continually in the direction of greater concentration. While we produce more food than ever before and pay less for it, America’s agricultural monopoly problem permeates every aspect of the supply chain. Beyond shifting production from individual and family farmers to industrial farms, everything from seeds to dairy and meat production to the retail shops where most of us buy our food are owned and controlled by a handful of multi-billion dollar companies. This leaves many of us without access to affordable, healthy food options, and is directly contributing to the global obesity and climate crises. It also (as we saw with COVID) leaves us exposed to critical supply chain breakdowns.

If ever an industry was ripe for digital transformation in ways that decentralize, agriculture is surely it. So far, technologies such as satellite data and remote sensing technologies have been aimed primarily at increasing production and bringing efficiencies to the existing system. The bigger opportunity for innovation comes in developing entirely new agricultural models outside the monopolistic system. Networks of individual farmers could band together and act like a giant conglomerate. People living in food deserts could easily coordinate with local farmers or even grow their own food. Cities or states could have their own local Instacarts or DoorDashes, reinvesting the platform fees in their communities. The sky's the limit if we allow ourselves to take a blank sheet of paper and imagine entirely new ways to produce, distribute and access the healthy food we all need in a more sustainable (and often more profitable way) without assuming that an existing institution sits at the center.

Entrepreneurship is crucial for a dynamic economy. America’s small businesses employ nearly half the nation’s employees. And highly scalable ventures are critical for job creation, especially now, as old economy companies and jobs are disappearing and communities are desperate to create new ones. In the last decade, more than 50% of the two million new businesses started in the U.S. were founded by minorities, creating more than 4.7 million jobs. Yet many struggle to survive or languish below their growth potential. At the same time, more companies are turning from full-time employees to gig workers than ever before, pushing more people into being micro-entrepreneurs.

Where once personal networks and capital were core to starting, funding, advertising, staffing and growing a business, the digital era has ushered in tools and pathways that can knock these barriers down. Websites can be built without technical know-how. Payments can be accepted without investment in infrastructure. Customers can be reached through platforms that already aggregate users. Legal documents can be completed without lawyers. Anyone with creative talent could burst onto the global stage (and monetize their ideas or influence) nearly overnight. Technology has barely just begun to morph the ways we define entrepreneurship and how we think about, launch and build businesses. As we continue to reduce the friction and capital necessary for startups, and connect with one another on a global scale, the economic engine can begin churning in earnest (in entirely new ways) in communities across the country.