Comments on: Corporate America’s next creative consultants? College kids on MindSumo

By: Ed Rodriguez

Ed Rodriguez — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:59:30 +0000

Innocentive has been doing this type of challenge crowd sourcing for years in the scientific field. I think what is concerning to some of the people commenting is the $ amount of the awards, and the fact that since it is targeting creative college students, the fear that it may be taking advantage of some naiveté. Given that all new ventures modify their approach over time, these are 2 areas that MindSumo will need to re-think in terms of changes in their approach or changes in the communication of their rules/offering. With a few tweaks this could be a great idea.

By: Bleh

Bleh — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 19:01:21 +0000

My thoughts exactly. Seems extremely exploitative.

By: Sucker-punch

Sucker-punch — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:07:03 +0000

I understand what you’re saying HP and can appreciate that to some degree, exposure to prospective employers in the market full of numbers is always a plus. Also, I’ll admit I don’t know the in’s and out’s of contracts between consulting firms and the intellectual property they create for another company (right’s they may retain, etc.), if they can advertise that it was their idea, if they get a cut or royalty from a grand slam success they came up with or what it actually costs for to hire a firm for various idea generation.

One example on the site (now complete) is for a brand name for a budget hotel chain. Pick a good name that resounds with a broad spectrum of society that’s easy to generate related advertising for and it could be a veritable gold mine. With the loss of intellectual property related to an idea, does a student still get to claim the idea as their own for a portfolio? If an idea is used and as it doesn’t guarantee an interview, much less a job, it just seems like it could be a pretty raw deal for the student.

By: HP

HP — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 04:56:16 +0000

@Sucker-punch – I think the idea is for the students to be able to gain exposure to companies they will later want to interview at. The suggested solutions on Mindsumo usually tend to be quite high-level from what I have seen. It helps recruiters see who can think outside of the box. Win-win for every party involved.

By: tiana

tiana — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:16:22 +0000

sound like a good deal for students to get real exposure to these high-profile companies/clients.

By: Sucker-punch

Sucker-punch — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 23:38:07 +0000

Hmm, so a student with a revolutionary idea, which could generate millions in revenue for a company, might hope to see a payout of up to $150, and lose all rights of intellectual property….where do I sign up?

By: Alberto

Alberto — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 23:03:10 +0000

This sounds awesome. Wish I could’ve done it when I was in school….

By: Jay Connolly

Jay Connolly — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:09:09 +0000

Awesome concept– I would’ve loved to see real challenges companies are facing, and especially to get out of the traditional (miserable) interview paradigm. And $160k in tuition later, I know firsthand anything that makes time in college more practical is a real service to these students. Best of luck to you guys.

By: Stephanie Handy

Stephanie Handy — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:58:39 +0000

I really like how everyone involved receives benefit: college students can make some money and possibly impress a recruiter, and the company can solve problems cheaply. Great idea!

By: Connie

Connie — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:48:11 +0000

I wish this were around when I was in college. Wow.