Things are moving, or at least that’s what my current work is making me feel like. We are in the process of compiling the first draft of the inaugural competition proposal which will help us launch our site in March. We’ve done a few of these competitions and despite the x-prize hype we’re beginning to realize that they are not the be all and end all. Instead many competitions are just marketing exercises treading water with marketing-savvy individuals (I don’t want to call them entrepreneurs) taking the prizes.
First, they begin with the wrong premise: chasing revolutionary innovation! Although innovation is essential to the BOP field its realization comes in the form of marginal improvements on existing plans, or even no improvement at all – just local adaptation.
Second, the competition setting tends to favour those who speak well over those who do well. This is both a communication and a time problem: operationally minded individuals (innovators and entrepreneurs) have little time for competitions and can often lack the ability to communicate effectively. TEPP staged a brilliant competition the other day, Metamorphosis, in which it tried to overcome this problem by linking real innovations with business school students. The idea is just through its first iteration, but there’s big hope for the future.
So, IDG will be different. The inaugural competition (currently entitled Sankalp) will target real entrepreneurs. To do so, we’re looking carefully how we select and reach out to entrepreneurs. Below are our initial thoughts (keep in mind that these are likely to change):
Selection
Successful applicants in the Sankalp Challenge 2008 will:
- Have been in operation for at least 6 months, with at least 10 customers
- Performed well during the Active Measurement phase [1]
- Be run by promising entrepreneurs
- Scored above 70% in all of IDG’s ratings:
o Social impact assessment
o Business Model Rating
o Hard-copy rating (finalists only)
- Have submitted at least 6 constituency reports [2]
- Pass final review by a distinguished jury
Outreach Strategy
Outside of established channels, Sankalp plans to reach out to entrepreneurs through:
- Direct partnership with organisations that incubate or attract high-potential business plans, such as:
o Government institutions (Technopreneur Promotion Programme – TEPP)
o Individual incubators (Seedfund, Mentor Partners)
o Non-governmental organisations (Ashoka)
- Focused marketing on industries filled with promise and activity.
NOTE: Currently we’re focusing in on 5: Skill training, ICT, Housing, Agriculture & Food Services, Energy. What do you think?
- Creation of an advisory council including
o Noted Entrepreneurs
o Media Executives
o Regional leaders (policy makers? – SME?)
- Extended publication of the event through deeper media ties, building on the success of Intellecap’s partnership with the Financial Express group for Srijan 2008.
- Incentivising submissions through innovative prizes such as professional mentoring support, a winner’s conclave or ongoing advice by noted entrepreneurs.
What do you think? Is IDG going far enough? Do you think we’re exagerating the problems competitons face? How else can we seek to get real quality in entries while being inclusive? Finally we want winners to get investments! Is this the right way to ensure that?
Look forward to hearing from you!
[1] The Active Measurement Phase (AMP) is an extended period during the professional mentoring process during which the operational performance will be measured statistically to give the most up-to-date assessment of the company’s on-the-ground performance
[2] Constituency Reporting is built on the Keystone Methodology, which recognizes the value of stakeholder and peer assessment in defining social value.