Four For Friday | July 4, 2025

LF180 | The $9 trillion care economy, 5 ecosystem types, rural Japan reinvention, mitochondrial health + Base44 AI app builder

Happy Independence Day to the Americans - may your independent spirit remain vibrant. Welcome to this week’s Four For Friday, back from Japan. Here’s four things that have piqued my interest this week, together with a bonus: AI Tip of The Week.

1. PWC on the new opportunities in care

A new report by PWC on scenarios for shifting value pools in society, with the care economy emerging as a major growth opportunity.

The report suggests healthcare is transforming into a $9.31 trillion 'Care domain' by 2035 with AI, aging populations, and climate change forcing cross-sector collaboration between existing healthcare, tech companies, and startups, creating new value in particular in personalized medicine and digital health.

The So What? The most exciting opportunities in health are likely to come from outsisde; new collaborations that embrace consumerization personalization, and socialization.

2. Five types of ecosystem - mapped

A useful framing of five ecosystem types: Business ecosystems (cross-industry solutions), Platform (network effects), Innovation (technology development), Entrepreneurial (startup support), and Mission-Driven (addressing societal challenges). The report maps each one based on their goals, participants, and strategic management approaches.

This is aligned with the mission-driven ecosystem post I wrote today, that proposes a roadmap for mission-driven ecosytem development.

The So What? Different ecosystems require different structures and operating models - getting clarity over which type of ecosystem to build is a good place to start.

3. How Masayoshi Son missed rural Japan

Instead of investing $1 trillion in an Arizona AI hub, this article suggests Masayoshi Son could instead revitalize his own country, Japan's, declining rural regions.

Rural Japan faces a serious demographic crisis but with its education, infrastructure and cultural allure it clearly has potential. The article suggests: an innovation fund for local enterprises, physical maker spaces with digital tools, and workforce reskilling through coding bootcamps. In this way it would create a lasting legacy in Son’s homeland.

The So What? Rural revitalisation is an enormous opportunity for a mission-driven entrepreneur, but this idea could probably do with some hearts and minds. Would add Mike & Mayumi Birt’s ideas around healthy hospitality to this agenda.

4. What’s your mitochondrial health?

A new longevity test - Mito.me - puts your unique mitochondrial pattern into one of 12 distinct types. Thee platform measures electron transport chain activity to create precise, personalized protocols that claim to improve energy, physical performance, cognitive function, and overall longevity.

The So What? Given that mitochondria are the energy source of the body, understanding the status and optimization opportunities would be immensely valuable if this is proven to be rigorous and scalable. Will watch with interest.

Bonus AI Tip of the Week: Base44

New AI app builder allowing you to build apps with natural language: Base 44 (compare to Lovable, Replit and V0).

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That’s all for now; happy weekend everyone.

- Stephen