1. Bird & Bird – Milan
February 4, 2014
Bird & Bird & Enlightenment

2. The Next Buddha will be a Collective
There is overwhelming evidence that the evolution of consciousness is marching on, moving
from collective living, where the individual was totally embedded in the life patterns of the
collective; through a gradual, often painful, process of individuation, with the emphasis on
the will and sovereignty of the individual; to what is emerging in our time: a conscious return
to collectivism where individuated, or self-actualised, individuals voluntarily - and temporarily pool their consciousness in a search for the elusive collective intelligence which can help us
to overcome the stupendous challenges now facing us as a species as a consequence of
how our developmental trajectory has manifested on the physical plane thus far .. . So human
evolution has something to do with human consciousness awakening first to itself, then to its
own evolution and to a recognition and finally an embodied experience of the ways in which
we are organically part of a larger whole. As we enter this new stage of individual/collective
awakening, individuals are being increasingly called to practice the new life-form composed
of groups of individuated individuals merging their collective intelligence."
http://realitysandwich.com/1207/next_buddha_will_be_a_collective/

4. Lawyers = Problem Solvers

5. One of the most difficult thing?

6. Bird & Bird as VC/Startup Firm
• More than 79 deals closed during the past 4 years
(2010-2013)
• 23 deal closed just last year (2013)
• Approx. 190 millions Invested Amount from 2009 to
2013
• Approx. 220 millions Divested Amount from 2009 to
2013
• One Tech IPO (Yoox IPO - selling shareholders
assistance)

7. Technology is great…

8. Google Glass
Augmented reality

9. Drone

10. …but per se doesn't solve any single problem

11. Portraits of Soldiers Before, During, and After War
Photographer Lalage Snow, who is currently based in Kabul, Afghanistan, embarked on an 8month-long project titled We Are The Not Dead featuring portraits of British soldiers before,
during, and after their deployment in Afghanistan. Similar to Claire Felicie's series of
monochromatic triptychs, Snow captures the innocent expressions of these men transformed into
gaunt, sullen faces in less than a year.
Private Chris MacGregor, 24

12. Portraits of Soldiers Before, During, and After War
Private Matthew Hodgson, 18
Lance Corporal Sean Tennant, 29

13. Technology doesn't save the world – Bill Gates
Financial Times - An exclusive interview with Bill Gates
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/dacd1f84-41bf-11e3-b064-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2sIe7Wm9t

14. What's next?

15. World Economic Forum
•
From Margins Mainstream Report – Impact Investing
FIRST, PRIVATE INVESTMENT TO ADDRESS SOCIAL CHALLENGES CAN CREATE TREMENDOUS SOCIETAL CHANGE.
Social issues continually present significant fiscal challenges for governments of developed, emerging and
frontier economies; these challenges are particularly difficult when government budgets are declining as a
result of burgeoning debt and fiscal austerity.3 Philanthropic organizations – while noble and needed – will
not be able to solve the most pressing social problems alone due to their limited resources. Given the
nature of how resources are distributed in the world, private investors have a potential role to play in
addressing social challenges, including development of impact enterprises, economic development more
broadly, and adjustment to major challenges such as climate change, urbanization and wealth inequality.
Impact investing offers an opportunity to creatively fund projects that may otherwise go unfunded, while
also helping to scale organizations with viable business models that meet pressing social or environmental
challenges.
Second, asset management is in a state of flux. Over the next 40 years, Generation X and the Millennial
Generation will potentially inherit an estimated US$ 41 trillion from the Baby Boomer Generation.4 These
generations have grown up in a culture that calls on business to play a more active role in society. IN FACT,
IN A RECENT STUDY OF 5,000 MILLENNIALS5 ACROSS 18 COUNTRIES, RESPONDENTS RANKED “TO IMPROVE
SOCIETY” as the number one priority of business (see Figure 1). This does not imply that the next generation
of investors will not seek market returns. Indeed, the investment industry thrives as a result of the pursuit of
investment returns, and businesses are not sustained without a profitable revenue model. However, the
emerging generation of investors is also likely to seek achievement of social objectives in addition to
financial returns.
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_II_FromMarginsMainstream_Report_2013.pdf

16. Social Innovation
‘Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of
changing themselves.’ – Leo Tolstoy

17. • Most popular Harvard course - a course
on Positive Psychology; that is, he taught
his students how to be happy.
“The course focuses on the psychological aspects of a
fulfilling and flourishing life. Topics include happiness,
self-esteem, empathy, friendship, love, achievement,
creativity, music, spirituality, and humor.”
Tar Bel Shahar

18. Is Meditation a Social Innovation?

19. TM – Augmented Reality
Yoda
Fear is the path of dark side.
Fear leads to anger.
Anger leads to hate.
Hate leads to suffering.

20. LET'S PUT IN PRACTICE
What we need?

21. Money

22. Impact Fund
Crowdfunding

23. People

24. Ray Dalio
BKS Iyengar
practice.”
My most fundamental Life Principle:
"Truth —more precisely, an accurate
understanding of reality— is the
essential foundation for producing
good outcomes."
"Change leads to disappointment if it is
not sustained. Transformation is
sustained change, and it is achieved
through."

25. Entrepreneurship

26. Barefoot College - Bunker Roy
Team B – Sir Richard Branson

27. Values

29. "I went to the woods because I wished to live
deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life,
and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,
and not, when I came to die, discover that I had
not lived." – David Thoureau
“The good lawyer is not the man who has an eye
to every side and angle of contingency, and
qualifies all his qualifications, but who throws
himself on your part so heartily, that he can get
you out of a scrape.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

31. How can we scale the meditation machine?
• David Lynch Foundation – A Leading Case