Jonash, too, believes that companies will want a portfolio of "idea banks." Some of the most successful idea networks, he notes, involve large corporations' paying for the expertise of small companies. Most of the large pharmaceutical companies now work closely with small biotech companies, he points out, and in the computer industry Cisco has created a successful model for providing generous funding to small enterprises and then acquiring them on friendly terms if their technology pays off. Coca-Cola, meanwhile, recently created a sort of in-house incubator called Fizzion to fund and support start-ups whose services could be of value to Coca-Cola. Other large companies are likely to follow those models, and online idea swapping could become a standard part of corporate R&D.
Small companies especially may be big beneficiaries of idea networks, since they're less likely to have experts in-house. And they typically don't have an army of people that they can send to conferences and trade shows to scope out new ideas, although those are among the best places to find them. Consider Cirrus Design Corp., a small manufacturer of aircraft in Duluth, Minn. Dean Vogel, vice-president of research and technology at Cirrus, notes that some of the company's ideas for aircraft features come from randomly encountered sources. As an example, he offers the fellow who was ogling one of the company's planes at an aviation show. The man casually observed that a minivan-style sliding door would make it easier to get into and out of the plane. Vogel overheard him, and Cirrus execs have since been thinking about how a sliding-door mechanism could be made lightweight enough for the plane. "If you can reach out to the world, you'll be harvesting a lot more brains than you could afford to hire," says Vogel.
Goel had been planning to push the envelope even beyond Ideation Networks. For example, he speaks of creating networks that would enable everyone in a company's "value chain" -- that is, suppliers through customers -- to put their heads together not just to trade formal ideas but to interactively solve problems, meet needs, and create new opportunities.
But he appears to have also discovered that his concept for commercializing ideas is one idea that the world may not yet be ready to pay for. Even if that's the case, Goel is not likely to give up permanently on his ambitions. "I don't like to dabble," he says. "I like to take my adventures all the way."
David H. Freedman is a contributor to Inc.
Hold That Thought
When does a simple thought become transformed into something you can buy and sell? Reporter Kate O'Sullivan spoke with some inventors, investors, and experts who've struggled with that question. Steve Jurvetson, managing director of venture-capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, invests in early-stage companies. Kevin Rivette is coauthor of Rembrandts in the Attic: Unlocking the Hidden Value of Patents. Scott Randall founded FairMarket, which builds online auctions for such businesses as the Miller Brewing Co. John Kowalski, CEO of Load Hog Industries, turned his unlikely invention into a product that attracted the attention of Ford Motor Co. (See " The Pickup Artist," June 2001.) And Paul Moller built a company around his own invention -- a flying car. (See " This Is Rocket Science," July 2000.) Here's what they said about idea marketplaces.
Is an online idea marketplace a valid business concept?
Steve Jurvetson: "At some level I do believe that there's a worldwide marketplace for information. ... But I'm not sure there's a thriving market for patentable ideas."
Paul Moller: "In the early '70s I could have benefited if I had had such a process available to me. It would have maybe been a great way to get exposure for some of the other products I've developed."
What would it take to make something like this work?
John Kowalski: "They'd have to build some credibility. Any exchange of soft product is really hard to track. Who's buying? Who's selling? What's been sold? I would think anyone with a substantive idea would be concerned about throwing something like that into the barrel. It might be knocked off, and then you don't get paid."
What could cause such companies to fail?
Kevin Rivette: "If I'm going to download my novel idea into somebody else's database, that completely eliminates my ability to get patents in other places in the world. Once you've made a publication for sale, bingo, you can't get patent rights. Once you've put it up on the site, you've published it for sale. That is the triggering event at which point you should have filed for your patent application in most of the world."
What do you think of the notion of corporations' offering branded idea marketplaces?
Scott Randall: "I love the democratization of the idea-collection process. This is the truest form of listening to your customers. The goodwill generated would be enormous. Consumers will shower tremendous loyalty on those companies that are perceived as listening best to their needs. The major caveats would be the legal ownership questions, the potential disputes around people submitting similar ideas but not getting credit, and the royalties associated with paying the inventors."
Is this concept ahead of its time?
Paul Moller: "Oh, no. I don't think it's ahead of its time at all. I think, like a lot of things, there will probably be half a dozen [companies] that come and half a dozen that go, and I think there will be one who eventually separates himself from the pack."
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