4 ms·

All of the projects make me sigh with wonder and fill me with desire to dust off the secret biochemical lab that I have in my basement.

FiReaNG3L 16y ago
Don't, the 'rewards' are ridiculously low for both the effort they demand and the money you could make out of it if you actually solved these problems.
- networkjester 16y ago
  I agree that this seems to be true for some (many) of the problems, but it depends on the requirements. Some require only written proposals, some require deliverables etc. I think it's unfair to say the rewards are too low, especially when it is always up to the solvers discretion whether or not the terms are favorable. Full disclosure: I'm not affiliated with InnoCentive, my brother just sent me the link this morning and I thought I'd share.
- notahacker 16y ago
  It does have a hint of 99designs about it - basically competing with others for a prize which is less than the minimum fee they'd expect to pay a competent contractor for time spent trying to achieve a solution.
- ivanstojic 16y ago
  I was actually wondering about that... there's a featured challenge on the front page: a biomarker for ALS. The prize is 1m$... now, that is a lot of money, but something doesn't clash. I'm sure that'd come out to about the yearly salary for 10 researchers. No mention of lab costs, testing, publication, blah blah... I'm not sure, but it smells like the typical Scriptlance (http://www.scriptlance.com/ http://www.scriptlance.com/) fare, with a similar cost/reward point. Meh. My lab will stay dusty :(
- michaelbuckbee 16y ago
  I agree about the reward / effort ratio, but it was unclear to me if that's purposeful (99 Designs) or if the intent is to spur innovation in certain areas (X Prize).
eam 16y ago
We have launched a similar website, currently in beta: http://www.zombal.com http://www.zombal.com . Maybe, just maybe you can start using your secret lab in the coming months.
- wgrover 16y ago
  Looks very interesting. I'd suggest that you offer as much feedback to losing submissions as possible (see my other comment), to help losers improve and keep them interested in trying other challenges.
  - eam 16y ago
    Zombal has a different format from Innocentive. The way it works is someone (the launcher) launches a task (usually scientific) and sets a budget or approximate payout amount. Then several people (the catchers) bid on it, they don't do any work until they are actually hired to complete the task.

FiReaNG3L 16y ago

Don't, the 'rewards' are ridiculously low for both the effort they demand and the money you could make out of it if you actually solved these problems.

networkjester 16y ago
I agree that this seems to be true for some (many) of the problems, but it depends on the requirements. Some require only written proposals, some require deliverables etc. I think it's unfair to say the rewards are too low, especially when it is always up to the solvers discretion whether or not the terms are favorable. Full disclosure: I'm not affiliated with InnoCentive, my brother just sent me the link this morning and I thought I'd share.
notahacker 16y ago
It does have a hint of 99designs about it - basically competing with others for a prize which is less than the minimum fee they'd expect to pay a competent contractor for time spent trying to achieve a solution.
ivanstojic 16y ago
I was actually wondering about that... there's a featured challenge on the front page: a biomarker for ALS. The prize is 1m$... now, that is a lot of money, but something doesn't clash. I'm sure that'd come out to about the yearly salary for 10 researchers. No mention of lab costs, testing, publication, blah blah... I'm not sure, but it smells like the typical Scriptlance (http://www.scriptlance.com/ http://www.scriptlance.com/) fare, with a similar cost/reward point. Meh. My lab will stay dusty :(
michaelbuckbee 16y ago
I agree about the reward / effort ratio, but it was unclear to me if that's purposeful (99 Designs) or if the intent is to spur innovation in certain areas (X Prize).

eam 16y ago

We have launched a similar website, currently in beta: http://www.zombal.com http://www.zombal.com . Maybe, just maybe you can start using your secret lab in the coming months.

wgrover 16y ago
Looks very interesting. I'd suggest that you offer as much feedback to losing submissions as possible (see my other comment), to help losers improve and keep them interested in trying other challenges.
- eam 16y ago
  Zombal has a different format from Innocentive. The way it works is someone (the launcher) launches a task (usually scientific) and sets a budget or approximate payout amount. Then several people (the catchers) bid on it, they don't do any work until they are actually hired to complete the task.