FAQ

Idea Management

• IP: CrowdSpirit wants to work closely with everyone at all stages of the supply chain, from the inventor right through to distributors. It is only when we have every stage of the supply chain working that everyone in that supply chain can benefit from the contribution they have made. We also depend on the supply chain community for this project to happen and support from the community to make the project a success for everyone involved. The issue of Intellectual Property (IP) is a complex one, however we feel that because the delivery of the supply chain is through collaboration, then there would be difficulties associated with just having the original inventor retain the IP. What would happen if they changed their mind and the product was in production? What happens to any associated IP added when the idea was being refined? What if different inventors want different terms and conditions? What about the other people in the supply chain besides the inventor? What about the complexity with inventors being in different countries around the world?

  The simplest way for CrowdSpirit to manage this is to hold the IP and to have standard terms and conditions based on a person’s contribution - e.g. a certain value associated with the original idea, another value for the refinements, another for the distribution etc. The exact split will vary from product to product, however with CrowdSpirit holding the IP it places CrowdSpirit in a stronger negotiating position not only with suppliers but also in the event that a manufacturer approaches us having spotted an idea in development and wishes to ’sponsor’ or invest in it. In all these cases, the original inventor will receive a share of revenue.

  However, IP only transfers to CrowdSpirit if we accept the idea as suitable for the community and if we do, then we have 12 months to use if and if CrowdSpirit doesn’t use the idea then the IP reverts back to the inventor.

• Collaborative platform launch: we’re currently scheduling a launch of the platform for the second quarter of 2007. In the meantime, we will involve some beta users on the beta releases.
• Product development Life Cycle: our process will be based on 4 major steps. This timings detailed here are suggested values and may be subject to change depending on the project.
  1. Continous idea sourcing.
  2. Product definition (3 months).
  3. Detailed production specification (3 months).
  4. Production and test of first prototype (4 months).

     Only at this stage, we will be able to decide or not (Go/NoGo) for commencing production of the product. This means that we’re scheduling a 10 month cycle for producing a product although this will vary depending on the complexity of the innovation. C.f. business model for the big picture.

• Innovation Management: The CrowdSpirit strategy is to avoid as much as possible that the proposed products will be “geek” products designed only for “geeks” with a very limited market. Our strategy is to address mass-market in order to increase our chance of generating sufficient revenue to reward the community. Our innovative CrowdSpirit collaborative platform will handle the different alternatives - from totally new product to simple product improvement. Only the best idea following predefined criteria will be produced. We cannot share everything so wait for the platform launch

Supply Chain Management

• Competitive Supply Chain: our main advantage will be based on our supply chain flexibility and agility to quickly design and market new innovative products. Thanks to our sales model that means CrowdSpirit will never own the products, and totally outsourced supply chain model, we will be able to quickly setup new networks between manufacturers and customers through retailers and distributors.
• Operational Partnership: From an operation standpoint, CrowdSpirit will interface with 2 major partners:
  • The IT Distributors who will distribute and market our products with a potential of 150,000 retailers within 100 countries.
  • The manufacturers (called ODM for Original Design Manufacturer) who will produce our products.

CrowdSpirit Structure

• Brand: CrowdSpirit will market as much as possible the products with its own brand name. Thanks to a huge community of retailers and distributors, our products will be distributed everywhere that demand is present.
• “Royalties” Management: CrowdSpirit will put in place an innovative and adaptive platform to ensure that contributors get maximum recognition for their work. This will be handled by our collaborative platform.
• Price management: The price will be jointly defined between the product team, the distributors and the CrowdSpirit Team based on knowledge of the local market. Please note that this is clearly a core competency of the distributors.
• Investor: the CrowdSpirit project is currently financed privately. Please note that required investments on the supply chain side are limited thanks to the “no-touch supply chain”. As the project develops, we will investigate bringing in external investors.