114 patterns open business Models Companies seeking insights from external researchers incur substantial costs when trying to attract people or organizations with knowl- edge that could solve their problems. On the other hand, researchers who want to apply their knowledge outside their own organizations also incur search costs when seeking attractive opportunities. That is where a company called InnoCentive saw opportunity. InnoCentive provides connections between organizations with research problems to solve and researchers from around the world who are eager to solve challenging problems. Origi- nally part of drug maker Eli Lilly, InnoCentive now functions as an independent intermediary listing non-profi ts, government agencies, and commercial organizations such as Procter & Gamble, Solvay, and the Rockefeller Founda- tion. Companies who post their innovation challenges on InnoCentive’s Web site are called “seekers.” They reward successful problem- solvers with cash prizes that can range from $5,000 to $1,000,000. Scientists who attempt to fi nd solutions to listed problems are called “solvers.” InnoCentive’s Value Proposition lies in aggregating and connecting “seekers” and “solvers.” You may recognize these qualities as characteristic of the multi-sided platform business model pattern (see p. 76). Companies with open business model patterns often build on such platforms to reduce search costs. The Connector: Innocentive major "seekers" platform management acquire solvers & seekers access to a broad network of scientist "solvers" connect "seek- ers" & "solvers" access to scientifi c challenges with cash rewards online profi les "seekers" (company) "solvers" (scientists) innocentive platform with base of "solvers" & "seekers" innocentive.com platform management acquisition of "solvers" & "seekers" free access to challenges fee to list challenges to solve commissions on awards free access to challenges "solvers" (scientists) free access to challenges free access to challenges free access to challenges free access to challenges "seekers" fee to list challenges to "seekers" (company) fee to list challenges to solve commissions on awards connect "seek- ers" & "solvers" challenges with cash rewards fee to list challenges to fee to list challenges to solve commissions on awards fee to list challenges to solve commissions on awards "solvers" access to scientifi c challenges with cash rewards access to a broad network of scientist "solvers" "solvers" Innocentive bmgen_final.indd 114 6/15/10 5:38 PM