Web 2.0 & Social Media

When we think of ‘crowdsourcing’ some of us think of leveraging crowds to do work like oDesk or Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, sites that help you outsource jobs globally. Another way crowds are leveraged is to allow companies create massive focus groups, garner fresh ideas, and even predict the future. Major brands such as Dell, Eli Lilly, Proctor & Gamble, Google, and Best Buy leverage collective insights to shape business strategies.

There are sites that provide this kind of functionality such The Industry Standard. a predictive marketplace (like the Hollywood Stock Exchange) where members track startups and technologies and place bets on which will succeed. Continue reading »