Thumbtack: Silicon Valley’s latest “unicorn”
Thumbtack is using an innovative business model to capture value in the ~$800B local services market
Submissions
goFlow: Crowdsourcing surf reports
Surfing is considered by some as the ultimate extreme sport. Over 35 million people around the globe struggle to predict the tricky weather conditions to score the ride of their lives. This process is full of uncertainty and frustration as […]
Kraft’s Vegemite: the 2.0 time’s the charm?
It’s easy to blame the crowd when crowdsourcing fails but most of the time the underlying reason for failure is in the design of the project. Kraft’s Vegemite fiasco highlights the importance of thoughtful execution, especially when crowdsourcing the name for a consumer product.
Deliv still short of viable business model.
Deliv addressed many of the challenges of crowdshipping but will likely struggle proving its business model in the face of the tough economics of same-day delivery.
Moleskine created a “Molescheme” through failed crowdsourcing effort
In 2011 Moleskine needed to redesign it’s logo for its online platform, Moleskinery. Naturally, the company looked to harness the loyalty of its artistic and design-focused customer base by crowdsourcing the new logo design. Unfortunately, their failed crowdsourcing attempt created unforeseen backlash and public animosity amongst their loyal customer base.
Is HourlyNerd disrupting the consulting industry the way Uber changed the taxi world?
What started as a way for MBAs to make a little extra cash has evolved into an elite freelancing marketplace with over 10,000 consultants or “nerds” bidding on projects for the likes of GE, Microsoft, and Au Bon Pain, among others. HourlyNerd is disrupting the traditional consulting industry by providing businesses access to inexpensive but highly skilled labor.
Motif Investing: Democratizing investment selection for retail investors
The traditional model of personal investing looks like this: individuals like you and me either sign up for a brokerage account, select investments and construct our own portfolios (“the DIY approach”) or hire a financial advisor that makes investment suggestions […]
How the Crowd Saved LEGO
LEGO soon discovered that their incredible fan base not only contributes to their brand reputation, but could also be used in a very different way: Through crowdsourcing LEGO gets new product ideas directly from children’s (and adult’s) rooms, where millions of existing models are reassembled into new individual LEGO models every day.
TripAdvisor and the crowds
TripAdvisor utilizes having genuine information about the hotels to bring more readers to the site which in turn, write their reviews as well and the platform grows attracting more hotels to partner with TripAdvisor. Indirect and direct network effects come into play.
Waze: Leveraging the Crowd to Find Your Way
With the help of the crowd, Waze is rapidly enhancing the way we navigate.