4 ms·

Why don't companies do this more often? Write down a list of stuff they need/would-like for their projects but aren't yet actively devoting resources to, and th

by Tycho 12y ago

Why don't companies do this more often? Write down a list of stuff they need/would-like for their projects but aren't yet actively devoting resources to, and then offer prizes to anyone who comes up with the goods. I know that crowd-source design contests have been common (and controversial) but R&D I don't hear about so much.

TwoBit 12y ago
Because usually what the companies are willing to pay is much too low for the actual effort involved.
- Tycho 12y ago
  That would explain a lack of participation, but this seems more like a lack of offers. It doesn't cost the company anything to put up a reward.
  - mentat 12y ago
    It would cost them the legal due diligence and setup which could be significant for complicated requests and/or large companies.
- kretor 12y ago
  In the future, other companies/orgs may add to one company's prize pot therefore make it a sufficient offer. Often times, people try to win the prize, knowing they'll on average make a loss, but doing it out of fun. See e.g. Google Lunar X Prize.
- lifeformed 12y ago
  But the cool thing is that the companies will attract all the non-standard R&D people: smart kids, people in between jobs, university students, etc. Smart people with extra time on their hands, who would love for a tangible challenge to work on with real deadlines. But of course, it's also not really reasonable to devote so much time to something that they aren't guaranteed to win. Maybe there could be something in between? You show the company an early prototype or some sort of promising direction, and then they pay you a stipend to continue working on it. The prize money is then distributed among the most promising results, instead of just one.
- PeterisP 12y ago
  The same companies that treat 100m-1b sized acquisitions as a cheap alternative to R&D? They are showing in practice that they are willing to pay huge amounts of money for "outsourced" R&D; sure, a prototype stage is worth less than an implmenetd product, but $1m or more seems to be a reasonable and affordable ballpark for such offers from the "buyer" perspective. The remaining question is if ~$1m is an appropriate amount for the inventor, given the effort required - but that seems very subjective and depends on each individual inventor and their location; in many countries you could fund a whole research laboratory of a good university for $1m.
ParadisoShlee 12y ago
I can see this kind of thing become much more common - There is an obvious need for X, we're willing to motivate Y. The internet allows Hobby tech guy to join the fray and change the world. Lofty goals. As a side note, this kind of thing very much reminds of me 'nwavguy'. An anonymous audiophile who created a cheap and stunning piece of hardware.. Sometimes a single guy with the right motivation and knowledge can innovate. "NwAvGuy boasted that his minimalist amplifier—which can be purchased for as little as $129 — “proves you don’t need exotic parts or esoteric circuit designs for best-in-class sound, accuracy, and performance.”"
- MrBuddyCasino 12y ago
  That was interesting - is it known if he is dead or has just gone silent? Seems he worked on something new after that.
hershel 12y ago
Some do. There's innocentive.com for example.
Monkeyget 12y ago
Note that it's the norm in the film industry. For a new movie project they'll peocure the element and people they need, do the movie and then disband. In The Nature of the Firm [1] Ronald Coase wondered why companies didn't contract out instead of having employees and why indeed firms exist in the first place instead of using the movie industry system. His answer was that there are transaction costs associated to using the market. There are also other costs such as search/informgation, bargaining, trade secrets,.. The costs of going to the market makes it less attractive. He got the Nobel Prize for that. Internet lowers that cost and makes it possible where it was impossible before. It's definitely a new opportunity companies don't exploit. Kaggle [2] does it for predictive modelling. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nature_of_the_Firm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nature_of_the_Firm [2] http://www.kaggle.com/competitions http://www.kaggle.com/competitions

by Tycho 12y ago

TwoBit 12y ago

Because usually what the companies are willing to pay is much too low for the actual effort involved.

Tycho 12y ago
That would explain a lack of participation, but this seems more like a lack of offers. It doesn't cost the company anything to put up a reward.
- mentat 12y ago
  It would cost them the legal due diligence and setup which could be significant for complicated requests and/or large companies.
kretor 12y ago
In the future, other companies/orgs may add to one company's prize pot therefore make it a sufficient offer. Often times, people try to win the prize, knowing they'll on average make a loss, but doing it out of fun. See e.g. Google Lunar X Prize.
lifeformed 12y ago
But the cool thing is that the companies will attract all the non-standard R&D people: smart kids, people in between jobs, university students, etc. Smart people with extra time on their hands, who would love for a tangible challenge to work on with real deadlines. But of course, it's also not really reasonable to devote so much time to something that they aren't guaranteed to win. Maybe there could be something in between? You show the company an early prototype or some sort of promising direction, and then they pay you a stipend to continue working on it. The prize money is then distributed among the most promising results, instead of just one.
PeterisP 12y ago
The same companies that treat 100m-1b sized acquisitions as a cheap alternative to R&D? They are showing in practice that they are willing to pay huge amounts of money for "outsourced" R&D; sure, a prototype stage is worth less than an implmenetd product, but $1m or more seems to be a reasonable and affordable ballpark for such offers from the "buyer" perspective. The remaining question is if ~$1m is an appropriate amount for the inventor, given the effort required - but that seems very subjective and depends on each individual inventor and their location; in many countries you could fund a whole research laboratory of a good university for $1m.

ParadisoShlee 12y ago

I can see this kind of thing become much more common - There is an obvious need for X, we're willing to motivate Y. The internet allows Hobby tech guy to join the fray and change the world. Lofty goals. As a side note, this kind of thing very much reminds of me 'nwavguy'. An anonymous audiophile who created a cheap and stunning piece of hardware.. Sometimes a single guy with the right motivation and knowledge can innovate. "NwAvGuy boasted that his minimalist amplifier—which can be purchased for as little as $129 — “proves you don’t need exotic parts or esoteric circuit designs for best-in-class sound, accuracy, and performance.”"

MrBuddyCasino 12y ago
That was interesting - is it known if he is dead or has just gone silent? Seems he worked on something new after that.

hershel 12y ago

Some do. There's innocentive.com for example.

Monkeyget 12y ago

Note that it's the norm in the film industry. For a new movie project they'll peocure the element and people they need, do the movie and then disband. In The Nature of the Firm [1] Ronald Coase wondered why companies didn't contract out instead of having employees and why indeed firms exist in the first place instead of using the movie industry system. His answer was that there are transaction costs associated to using the market. There are also other costs such as search/informgation, bargaining, trade secrets,.. The costs of going to the market makes it less attractive. He got the Nobel Prize for that. Internet lowers that cost and makes it possible where it was impossible before. It's definitely a new opportunity companies don't exploit. Kaggle [2] does it for predictive modelling. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nature_of_the_Firm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nature_of_the_Firm [2] http://www.kaggle.com/competitions http://www.kaggle.com/competitions