In an attempt to harness the surging popularity of social media, many businesses have looked to consumers to provide ideas and input, otherwise known as crowdsourcing.
There have been good examples of this strategy and there have been bad – witness Kraft’s iSnack 2.0 debacle, for instance. Most of these forays have been made by big businesses but, increasingly, start-ups are looking to the public for assistance.
Today, Mahesh Sharma looks at how start-ups are using crowdsourcing to attract funds and mentoring they’d otherwise miss out on. Crowdsourcing may not replace your bank as the main source of funds, but this is a trend that will only grow.
Also, our very own Amanda Gome looks at whether you should start up outside your field of knowledge and Taskmaster commands a cost cutting competition.
Oliver Milman, editor
