Match Maker - TekScout Links Scientists with Corporate Projects
TekScout, launched in March, is an online service that connects scientists and engineers from around the world with companies seeking help for specific projects.
A crowdsourcing Web site from innovation services firm UTEK, the TekScout network specializes in outsourced R-and-D work from chemistry and biotech to engineering and mathematical expertise. We talked with TekScout founder and UTEK vice president Ed Weisberg to learn more about how it works.
Talk about the origins of TekScout - what's it modeled after?
The roots of it are based on UTEK, which has been around for 10 years helping companies find and license technologies. We heard from a lot of clients who were sitting on technologies and on R-and-D. I joined in January (2008) specifically to address this. We decided to build a Web-based network with scientists so companies can post their projects online and scientists can address them.
Discuss how TekScout makes money.
There is a subscription fee for scientists. If you're a member of the United Inventors Association, you get a deep discount. When a company posts a project, there is a posting fee. The real money is when we make a connection and there's a contract value between the scientist and the company.
This sounds like selective crowdsourcing. Is it only open to accredited academics, or can capable independent inventors get in on this?
Capable independent inventors can get in on this. By having a fee, it can be self selecting. For someone not a member of an affiliated operation, it's $100. It will be $50 if you're a member.
How does TekScout recruit and match these engineers, scientists and others with innovation expertise to companies?
Companies post their projects and choose a category. Experts fill in their areas of expertise. We tell companies and experts not to assume confidentiality until it's confirmed. We want to make sure there's actually a relationship made.
When a company posts a project it can be very anonymous. We have more than 200 projects posted now. The only company posting its name is Kraft. Competing scientists don't see competing solutions, but companies see competing results. Companies can mix and match solutions. We haven't seen that happen yet, but it can happen.
So how aggressively does TekScout monitor projects? Are any off limits?
We're pretty agnostic. We don't vet out the postings. From the company's side when they post the challenge, they have two options. The can have it self-managed - they post and they get questions and proposals and do their own analysis. The alternative is to engage us in the evaluation process by UTEK scientists. There's a higher posting fee and higher percentage fee for that.
Talk about how this can be cost-effective for companies.
Most of the solutions to the more complicated problems are on the edge or outside the areas of your expertise. You've got this challenge and there's a very good chance someone out there has the answer. You'd spend a couple hundred grand a year to run a lab. But you could find a scientist out there for 50 grand. It's faster to market and probably a better solution.
Many of the smartest minds are in Russia, China and India. Traditional large Fortune 500 companies don't have a great way to get to those guys. This is a way to make those connections.
I know it's early, but do you have any success stories you can share?
We don't have any completed success stories, yet.
How do you expect this service to evolve - what are some of the coming steps or features we can expect?
We expect to build a Facebook of scientists. That will enable those to network among each other. They can put their resume up there. If I were a scientist I'd be looking for something like this.
