Can a Prize Bring About New Innovations in Sexual Health?

A prize is an ‘Arthurian romance’ that makes people feel that they can participate in the quest for a solution.

Geoffrey Moore, AuthorCrossing the Chasm

What’s your Holy Grail?

TimeSkill

Conceptual Framework

Concepts or Ideas

Products & Services

Prototypes

“Skill-Based” competition = a challenge that requires intellectual agility

(vs. physical talent or chance-to-win)

Raw Refined

+

Prize:$25,000($290K today)

Sponsor:Raymond Orteig

Target :Anyone brave enough to try

Goal:Stimulate long-distance passenger air travel

Results: More than $400,000 in investment (16x) Underdog Charles Lindberg wins Within 18 months of his flight:

- Passenger air travel increased 30x- Licensed aircraft increased 4X- Aviation stocks soared

Historical Analog: The Orteig Prize (1919)

Ansari X PRIZE: Catalyst of the Prize Renaissance

Prize:$10,000,000

Sponsor:X PRIZE Foundation

Target :Aerospace Engineers

Goals:Jumpstart private commercial spaceflight

Results: 26 teams from 7 nations More than $100 million invested 5.5B media impressions worth > $120M Changed the paradigm that space is only

for governments Public excitement & awareness Drove regulatory reform

Ruckus Nation: Your idea could start a movement

Prize:$300,000

Sponsor:HopeLab

Target:Sedentary Tweens

Goals:A. Innovative products to increase

physical activity among middle-school kidsB. Shifting the public discourse

Results: 400+ entries 37 countries, 42 US states 6 patents filed Distributed network of more than 300 judges Recognized by President Obama as an innovative, high-impact solution

Prize:$150,0006-month contract

Sponsor:Tourism Queensland

Target :Open to anyone with a sense of adventure

Goals:Tourism & publicity

Results: 34,000 applicants from around the world Compelling web-optimized content Global exposure, millions of media impressions Promotion for Australia tourism High ROI: $150k award + operational costs

Best Job in the World

Recent Surge in Prize Funding

Aggregate prize purse, prizes over $100,000U.S. $ Millions

Source: McKinsey dataset of 227 prizes worth $100,000 or more

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Source: McKinsey & Company

Seven Ways that Prizes Deliver Change

Identifyexcellence

1 Identifyexcellence

1 Focus a community

2 Focus a community

2 Influence public perception

3 Influence public perception

3

Strengthencommunity

5Strengthencommunity

5Educate andimprove skills

6Educate andimprove skills

6Mobilize capital7

Mobilize capital7

Focus Focus InfluenceInfluence

4 Identifyand mobilize new talent

4 Identifyand mobilize new talent

4 Identifyand mobilize new talent

Topic/problemTopic/

problem

CommunityCommunity PublicPublic

Why not?

Can a Prize Bring About Radical Innovations in Sexual Health?

Ryan Wilsonryan@ideacrossing.com

A successful prize gets people to do what they want to do anyways – it just helps them to do it more successfully.

Robert SuttonBehavioral Psychologist

Thank You!