My oldest daughter is graduating from university in a few short weeks. She's planning for the future. Her mother and I, being practical parents, have instilled this need for planning in her. It's what practical people do. They make plans. Thirty-two years ago, on my own graduation date, I also made plans. According to my plan, I should now be a senior producer on a national Canadian TV drama. This is, of course, after working my way up as a production assistant, writer and possibly a director. But as German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke said, "No battle plan survives …

When I speak with marketers about their innovation and start-up ambitions, the conversation inevitably veers towards digital media forms, data, content creation and consumer reach and engagement. This is driven, of course, by the fact that "media" is a language that marketers traditionally speak very well, and also by the fact that the first wave of digital innovation had a large media component. But VCs and start-ups have never been exclusively digital-media-focused. Whether you read news and commentary about start-ups, or just look around at the scene, you will quickly realize that only a small percentage of start-up innovation is …

Three weeks ago, I wrote a column about exponential technologies. I looked at the way that any industry built on information will follow a price-performance curve that roughly doubles every year, at the fact that we're starting to reach inflection points on technologies ranging from artificial intelligence to bioengineering, and how all of these technologies are now starting to converge. Since then, nearly every headline I see reinforces this proposition.

From new accessories like wearables, to new retail techniques like mobile commerce, it's easy to think that everything is changing. Yet in this world of unbound possibilities, we seem to fetishize technology, rather than use it to design products and experiences that cater to new and emerging consumer behaviors. We need to shift our focus away from the shiny new toys that technology provide, and key our eyes to our customers.

If your marketing isn't working, it's because you may not know whom you're talking to. After all, if you don't know your audience, how can you know what they want to hear about?

Justine Sacco is in the news again. Not that she wants to be. She'd like nothing more than to fade from the spotlight. But today, over 15 months after she launched the tweet that just won't go away, she's still the poster child for career ruination via social media. The recent revival of Justine's story came before the release of a new book by Jon Ronson, "So You've Been Publicly Shamed."

What are your top five irritants in digital advertising today? I can tell you mine:

Tell me: how wise were you, at 22 years old? Extremely, I imagine. Probably didn't make a single mistake. Nothing embarrassing, nothing foolish, almost certainly didn't fall in love with the wrong person, and definitely didn't fall in love with your boss, right? These were the questions Monica Lewinsky asked of the TED2015 audience when she took the stage yesterday in Vancouver, British Columbia. Hands up, those who didn't do something dumb. Hands up, those who have no regrets from that time. Unsurprisingly, not a single hand went up.

People can stop wondering whether "real" television programming will escape the multichannel bundle and find its way to U.S. homes through online streaming services. You can't read the news these days without confronting yet another story about a new over-the-top streaming service with top branded TV content.

Unicorns, yetis, griffins -- these are the topic du jour in Silicon Valley. It used to be we talked about tangible topics like revenue, ROI, and customer experiences -- but today the press is all about mythical creatures and whether or not they're real. The hyperbole around these mythical creatures is simply an analogy to discuss what may or may not be considered a bubble in the investment world. The answer varies by whom you speak with, but there's one thing for certain: If there is a bubble, I doubt its implosion would have as much effect as the last …