Tech City, a London based company that is a technology cluster working with companies like Google, Intel, Facebook, Vodafone and many more has recently opened a competition in which over 1000 start ups from 77 countries are attempting to create the next Facebook or Twitter. The price money is $1.6 Million as well as invaluable experience, the selection is rather complex using crowd sourcing, algorithms, and a jury evaluation. The question of Tech City is if all the money, time, and effort invested will pay off and a billion pound flotation will be created or a something that would sell to a big firm. The company, ‘King’, maker of popular online game “The Candy Crush Saga” has filed for flotation which is a positive sign that this competition is moving in the right direction and has potential to be very successful.
It is no doubt this goal is ambitious despite the large number of start ups involved, but to create a company as dominant and revolutionary as Facebook or Twitter is a risky project. The technology industry is highly competitive which is conducive to creativity as everyone wants to invent ‘the next big thing’ however for Tech City to have a finished product in mind that resembles Facebook or Twitter can be very limiting and even hinder creativity. Contestants could focus on the judging process with its algorithms and see it almost as guidelines or a rubric. Perhaps a contest with less limiting factors could more effective as some start up may have the vision of the ‘next Facebook’ to be completely different from what is known today.
