Read the InnoCentive case and in conjunction with your own team research, be prepared to discuss with the following questions:

1. (15 points) What is InnoCentive's business model? Please use the Business Model Canvas to illustrate.

1. (10 points) The Seeker Side.

• Why do companies refer problems to InnoCentive? What's their motivation?
• For what kind of problems would you use IC?
• The founder of InnoCentive, Alph Bingham, characterizes internal R&D as being trapped in "local search." Does someone have experience working in firms and being stuck in local search? What happened? Why did it happen? How was it resolved?

1. (15 points) The Platform: Value Provided by InnoCentive

• What is the basic thesis of IC's innovation model? Why do problems that could not be solved in the R&D labs of multinationals somehow get solved through IC?
• In your opinion what is the most critical component of IC's value proposition?
• How good a job does InnoCentive do?

1. (10 points) The Solver Side.

• What motivates solvers to participate?
• What about Collaboration? Do you think Solvers would benefit from collaboration?