The Solver’s Edge

Sumit Goski, a Solver: In open innovation, you need to think out of the box all the time

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Hello solvers,

Welcome to The Solvers Edge Podcast, the podcast that takes you on a journey of why, how, and when does open innovation matter.

I’m your host, Iliriana Kacaniku and today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Sumit Goski, a solver of 120 and winner of over 20 open innovation challenges. My co-host Mentor Dida had the pleasure of interviewing Sumit. 

Sumit is definitely one of those innovators anywhere, whom I mentioned in the introduction episode. He grew up in a remote village of India, and learned about open innovation challenges after he enrolled in college.  He won the first time he participated in an open innovation challenge.

With this impressive portfolio of challenges, I wanted to learn about his process of solving a challenge and what makes a challenge experience stand out. And few others.

What I learned from him is simple and powerful.

If you’re a solver, remember that:

  • In open innovation, there is no box - in order to succeed in a challenge, you have to challenge yourself by thinking outside of the box. All the time.
  • As you develop your challenge solution, leverage your immediate circle of friends and peers to be your first validators and feedback providers.
  • You need to do your own research into the market in which the challenge resides

    • If you’re an innovation seeker,

    • What award you design determines which solvers your open innovation challenge will attract. While monetary awards matter, a clear value proposition for the winning solution’s journey after the challenge matters more to “serious innovators anywhere.”
    • The way you even the playing field for participants matters – especially if you are launching a challenge on a topic that has no solutions yet identified, and
    • In open innovation there's no limit to the direction in which the solution can go.

      • What about yours? What learnings did you take from this conversation? Feel free to share them with us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.   In the interim, follow us on Spotify, or Apple Podcast, or Google Podcast and subscribe to our newsletter so you do not miss out on our next episodes.

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      The Solver’s EdgeBy Kaptivate LLC