When to do which - in-source, out-source, crowd-source.

1. Crowd + sourcing
Dr. Augustine Fou
Tom Cunniff
January 16, 2013
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In +
Out +

2. Crowdsourcing
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Interest in crowdsourcing continues to go up; but usage
of some sites continue to go down. Why?
Google Insights: “crowdsourcing” Compete: crowdspring.com

3. Executive Summary
• Some things lend themselves better to
crowdsourcing; others do not.
• As crowdsourcing matures, what are the
areas where it works well and others
where it doesn’t?
• Is there a systematic way of identifying
which is which?
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4. Subjective Examples
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5. Crowdspring.com
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Crowdsourcing design and creative
Compete: crowdspring.com
Sometimes, just having more of something
(like dozens of design submissions) may still
not be enough to find a good one.

6. Objective Examples
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7. Waze
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Real time traffic via 30 million live data points
“30 million drivers
out on the roads,
working together
towards a common
goal.”

8. Kickstarter
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Crowd funding “long tail” creative projects
Enabling creative producers
with “long tail” creative
projects to find the users who
like their work enough to
pre-fund it.
In this case, casting a wider
net is better, to find those
hard-to-find needles in a
haystack.

9. Threadless
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Crowdsourced t-shirt designs
Designers create
designs that the
community votes on;
the most popular ones
get made into t-shirts
for sale.

10. Kiva
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Community based micro-loans
People in need post
projects that are
looking for loans in
order to complete.
Other people can make
loans to support a cause
and help individuals or
groups complete their
project or goals.

11. DonorsChoose.org
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Microfunding teachers’ in-classroom projects
Teachers post school
projects that need
funding for supplies.
Individuals can
contribute instantly via
credit cards.

12. PressureNet
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Atmospheric pressure info to predict the weather
Source: Wired, Jan 7, 2013

13. Real-Time Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing has gone real-time, thanks to mobile
Source: KPCB Mary Meeker Internet Trends 2013

14. When to do what-sourcing
• In-source – in-source strategy because it relies on a unique
and in-depth knowledge of your product, business, and
industry
• Out-source – out-source functions which are not your
primary area of expertise, not directly tied to it, but which is
standardized and has mature metrics of success and quality
(e.g. HTML coding)
• Crowd-source – crowd-source activities where more is better
(e.g. Waze) and which is more objective (e.g. community
donations and loans) versus subjective (e.g. designs)
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15. So What?
“For subjective things like design, more
is not necessarily better; for other
things like funding, if the idea is good
enough and many people understand it
well enough to fund it, then more is
better.”
- Dr. Augustine Fou
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16. Op/Ed
“On subjective matters, particularly
creative ones, more advice is not
better advice. Too many choices create
anxiety and an insatiable hunger: if
only we could see a few more choices,
the answer would be clearer…”
- Tom Cunniff
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17. Overchoice: Why Variety Backfires
Subjective things are “a ‘nonalignable’
assortment (…) that simultaneously vary
along multiple, noncompensatory
dimensions, demanding between-
attribute trade-offs.”
-John Gourville, Harvard Business School
Author, “Overchoice: and Assortment Type: When and Why Variety Backfires.”
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18. When Crowdsourcing Bombs
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Source: Business Insider
January 16, 2013
Yes folks, an advertising agency, which
on its Web site, claims to be an agent of
positive change, does not seem capable
of changing their own name – And
exactly what is wrong with DW+H,
anyway?
So, they paid “flavor of the month,”
crowdsourcing agency, Victors & Spoils,
to do it for them. Readers should know
that the crowdsourcing business model is
based on getting lots of people to bust
their chops for nothing in the hope that
their submission might be the one in a
thousand winner, for which they might
receive hundreds.

19. Dr. Augustine Fou – Chief Digital Strategist
“I analyze trends and advise
clients on getting out in front
of them, rather than be a
victim to them.”
FORMER CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER, HCG (OMNICOM)
MCKINSEY CONSULTANT
CLIENT SIDE / AGENCY SIDE EXPERIENCE
PROFESSOR AND COLUMNIST
ENTREPRENEUR / SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
PHD MATERIALS SCIENCE (MIT '95) AT AGE 23
ClickZ Articles: http://www.clickz.com/author/1151/augustine-fou
Slideshares: http://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Augustine Fou@acfou

20. Tom Cunniff – Chief Digital Strategist
“I help clients penetrate the
dense digital fog to identify
new opportunities rooted in
genuine consumer needs.”
CHAIRMAN, ANA DIGITAL COMMITTEE
FORMER GLOBAL DIRECTOR OF INTERACTIVE
COMMUNICATIONS, COMBE INCORPORATED
CLIENT SIDE / AGENCY SIDE EXPERIENCE
ENTREPRENEUR / SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
CREATED FIRST CPG WEBSITE IN HISTORY
MediaBizBloggers: http://www.mediabizbloggers.com/tom-cunniff
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomcunniff
Tom Cunniff@tomcunniff

21. Related Slideshares
Crowdsourcing, Crowdfunding, Fads?
By: Augustine Fou, March 26, 2012
Do Different: Experiential Marketing
By: Augustine Fou, October 22, 2012.
Innovation Old and New
By: Augustine Fou, January 9, 2013.
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22. APPENDIX
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23. Successful Kickstarter Projects
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Source: The Economist, Jan 17, 2013