The problem for many people is that they have a unique niche that they would either like to fill, or a niche they would like to create. But they have nowhere to start.

That is, one person says ‘I would like a job that lets me use my special skills and interests in these… areas’. Another says ‘If I could only find these special skills people who are willing to help me, we could build a small empire together’. The problem is, these people can’t find each other. If one of them is dynamic and dedicated enough (to promote either their skill or the project), they may eventually meet. More likely each will settle for second best, the first finding a so-so job, and the second finding a so-so partner/employee. Most will never get that chance to excell.

To make the problem more difficult, there are usually three of four (or more) elements involved. A group of participants is required each with a set of unique talents. AND then they must find a financial resource with similar interests.

Getting the IDEA-TALENTS-CAPITAL together is the nearly impossible challenge. As an entrepreneur and a SCORE Counselor, I have seen many more lost business opportunities, businesses with REAL Value than I have fulfilled businesses. So many could succed with just a small boost from in the right direction. I try to help some of these, but most can never ‘find the dots’ much less ‘connect the dots’.

Innocentive is filling one role of helping connect such dots. However the Innoventive service is still relatively one sided. A business that is adequately funded, and can afford to offer large awards (aka Seekers) can ‘hire’ Innocentive to help them find answers to isolated and unique problems.

What about the other direction? Where can an entrepreneur or inventor or highly skilled individual go to find that presently non-existent “niche”? And how do they initiate their search or development with little or no capital? Can a search and build (rather than search and destroy) system be built?

Such a multi-directional search system must be both aggressive and delicate: new ideas may be very proprietary, individuals wishing to move on may want to do so privately, and even small investors must be very selective and not attract everyone who has a hair-brained scheme.

To solve the problem, I envision a sort of on-line “game”, a multi-level search-and-build game. Each player would be anonymous at first, using only each other’s first names or “Nicher” names. Each could probe through layers of the game looking for people with similar interests and complementary skills. The inventor types would try to find resource talents to develop, engineer, test, promote their ideas. They would form into tenuous teams, set up mini-blogs to discuss their ideas.

Out of these team efforts might come ghost business structures (following a preset BP format), with product/management/technology/promotion/etc. loosely defined. These ghost businesses would then be available for browsing and perhaps participation by the potential investors…… Then there would be a a’game won” exit strategy wher a real business would be formed and go on to succeed or fail as is their lot.

How does one support such a complex game? The same way most on-line games are supported: through subscriptions. From successful ‘game’ players new businesses would arise that would become Innocentive Seekers, so now we have come full circle.

While this is a complex and challenging task, I am personally aware of a technology that I believe can be developed to help it work…. if anyone wants to discuss it.

Great post!

May everyone everywhere have work that engages and excites us and allows us to live a lifestyle that thrills us.