They’re winning breakthrough ideas

THE PRINCIPLE

One way to get great ideas is to create a contest

In 1996 the California-based X Prize Foundation offered a $10 million prize for the first successful private space flight. It was won by SpaceShipOne. In 2008 they added further prizes of up to $30 million for solutions to problems relating to energy, the environment and education, among others.

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The Foundation’s chairman and CEO, Peter H. Diamandis, told the Harvard Business Review that with a contest the entrants are not only after the money, they also enjoy the thrill of the chase, the potential fame and the benefits to humanity. And companies ...

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