David Kluskiewicz

The recent wave of commercial open source development (aka crowdsourcing) should be approached with caution. While the process generates a rejuvenating spark, as in the examples on a recent episode of Radio Open Source and Steve Rubel’s recent post, it fails to recognize the long-term contribution of innovators. Crowdsourcing for commercial gain can’t survive for much longer.

Non-commercial Crowdsourcing

That’s not to say that drawing good ideas from the masses isn’t valuable. Linux and Wikipedia, although still rough on some edges, are great examples of useful innovations distilled from the skills of tens of thousands of contributors. However, because these ventures don’t generate explicit profits, contributors are likely to be satisfied with the knowledge that they helped build something.

Commercial Crowdsourcing

When commercial enterprises crowdsource for product ideas, branding concepts and research, it’s arguable that they are paying below market rates for revenue generating assets. The smart people that win crowdsourcing contests are usually awarded some prize at a single point in time. But if those ideas go on to generate future earnings for a company, the contributors rarely have access to them, even though their work may have been a major factor. Chris Lydon, in an interview with several crowdsourcers, suggested companies offer contributors health insurance. The suggestion wasn’t taken seriously by the guests, who cited that many members of their crowds lived in countries where socialized medicine was available.
Solution: An Exchange for Crowdsourcing Contracts

No business can maintain all the relevant talent at all the relevant times. And lots of innovators enjoy the flexibility of working for multiple clients. So, naturally crowdsourcing will continue to provide a wellspring of new ideas. However, to keep the community of innovators engaged, we should consider rewarding them not with prizes, but with equity and benefits. Ideally these rewards would be transferable, providing innovators with revenue and insurance while they work toward their next project.