There’s a long-standing notion that there is wisdom in crowds.
Yet in the world of SaaS and high-technology there is a growing understanding that there is not only wisdom in crowds, but power in crowds, too. Increasingly, business models are evolving to put their users at the middle of the product or service on offer, and allowing the power of their users to generate value for all: customers, the business, and the crowd itself, too.
This movement is known by many names, but perhaps the most popular today is crowdsourcing.
Take a look at this video from DuoLingo on their product, and the potential power of the crowd of users who have embraced it to deliver value for the company, and for the users, too.
Watching this video, I can’t help but fell inspired.
The crowd that DuoLingo has built their company around serving – and it is serving those users, not simply using them to generate profits – is passionate about the product, freely shares the benefits of the product, generate incredible word-of-mouth advertising for the company, and drives innovation further forward.
Do you, too, feel this inspiration?
Do you also see the potential value in crowdsourcing not only as a business model but as a way to solve problems together?
What problems can be best addressed by the crowd in a crowdsourcing effort rather than by individuals competing for a far-off prize?
Let me know with a comment below or on Twitter!
