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Why innovation competitions fail to affect change
Philanthropic organizations and public leaders may have their heart in the right place but are putting their money in the wrong place when sponsoring contests
If you follow today’s innovation sector news, you could be forgiven for getting the impression that the solutions to all of our problems are right around the corner. Billions invested of dollars into climate tech funds! Hundreds of millions invested in carbon capture companies! It is difficult not to be infected with the techno-optimist energy that drives these headlines.
However, those of us who remember the cleantech bust, or who have been involved in ventures focused on addressing “wicked problems,” know how challenging it can be to translate this excited energy into actual solutions. One of the more popular tools for attempting to bridge this gap is the innovation competition: a competition organized around a challenge, with the intent that the venture best suited to addressing the challenge wins the prize, and the prize money helps bring the solution to fruition.
Throughout my years as an entrepreneur and startup founder, I have been both a competition contestant and an accelerator manager. I’ve been fortunate to win over a dozen high-stakes…
