An EBay For Innovation

ChallengePost’s big idea is to make invention and problem-solving everyone’s business.

If you want a problem solved, one proven approach is to offer a gigantic check as bounty.

In July, a group of software programmers proclaimed success in the $1 million contest to improve the algorithm that Netflix, the online DVD rental service, uses to predict what movies customers might like. Five years ago, the X Prize Foundation awarded $10 million to the first team to launch a reusable manned craft into space twice in two weeks; it now has big monetary rewards outstanding for anyone who can land a robot on the moon, build a commercially viable car that can get 100 miles per gallon or dramatically reduce the time and cost in sequencing the human genome.

But what if you don’t have millions of dollars to offer yet have a problem you want solved? A new Web site called ChallengePost aims to fill the gap between the small goals and the lofty ambitions of X Prize Foundation. Started in New York City by 35-year-old former record label owner Brandon Kessler, ChallengePost gives anyone the ability to establish a goal, rally a community around it and raise funds with which to reward winners.

Since the site went live in mid-June, it has attracted $25,000 in pledges or gifts toward new challenges, including creating an unblockable anonymous software for mobile Internet access, designing the “ultimate” iPhone application for entrepreneurs and the more far-fetched goal of reconceiving the dysfunctional New York State legislature.

“We want to be the place you go to get something done when there’s something in your head that doesn’t exist,” says Kessler. The company has raised $500,000 in seed capital from investors such as Apple ( AAPL – news – people ) co-founder Steve Wozniak and Esther Dyson.

Prizes are an increasingly popular option for organizations that want to stimulate innovation, and for philanthropies that want to solve a particular problem. The aggregate value of innovation contests has more than tripled over the past decade to $375 million, according to a new study by McKinsey & Co. The consulting firm counted only contests with awards greater than $100,000 (see “Using Prizes To Spur Innovation”).

Read more . . .

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Tags: esther dyson, Innovation, iPhone, kessler, lofty ambitions, monetary rewards, philanthropies, seed capital, steve wozniak, x prize foundation

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 6:12 pm and is filed under Forbes, Innovation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.