Leveraging the Internet for Idea Generation: Only the Creative Need Apply

I have long marveled at the power of the Internet for idea generation. In fact, much of my writing has been in this vein. But what I haven't really discussed is how the 'Net can also be used to design new products and services, and I am proud to announce that one of my portfolio companies is doing just that.

Clear Asset Management, the algorithmic asset management firm and creator of innovative ETF products, has launched a contest involving three schools (Columbia, Lehigh and NYU) and Facebook. The goal: come up with creative, high-value ideas for new ETFs products. The prize: $4,000 cash, a paid internship at Clear and the chance to attend the bell-ringing ceremony at the exchange when the winning ETF is launched. There are other cool things for runners up, honorable mention, etc., but I'm focused on the brass ring. There are many more details at the Facebook page and any and all interested parties should check it out. I'm sorry, but this whole idea is cool. Pretty, pretty cool.

It just makes so much sense; I'm only sorry it wasn't my idea. And this is just the first of many contests Clear is planning to run, which will continue to leverage both online (Facebook, Clear Indexes website) and offline (schools excited to participate) distribution channels. Why not? Get access to some great R&D by tapping into thousands of bright, creative, ambitious financial thinkers who would love nothing better then to see their ideas come to life, get a few bucks, an internship and a great resume-builder to boot? It's all good. And it taps into the long-tail of financial engineers lurking in dorm rooms, home offices and garages everywhere. It's like Mechanical Turk for financial engineering. I love it. I'll report back on how it goes, but I am highly confident that the idea is a winner.

Comments

[Adam]

But wait there's more!

The really clever thing is that Clear will take permanent ownership of the IP forever, whether they decide create an index/license a fund from it or not.

It doesn't take a student from a leading university to calculate that just 5 bps out of an ETF would pay a clever index-licenser a handsome multiple above this contest. The "fine print" of the contest is the genius part.

Disclosure: I entered an idea in the contest--but it's probably not worth $4k.

[Yaser Anwar]

Amber-

Please contact me if you're interested in promoting this group/contest through Facebook. My group, Wall Street Networking, is by far the largest and active Finance community on Facebook. I've helped many friends promote books, sites et al that I believe add value to the community.

My email is yaser AT yaseranwar . com

Yaser

[Amber Sharif]

We do plan on including more schools in future contests. This is the first of many to come and we chose NYU, Columbia and Lehigh because of their proximity to our office and gauge interest.

[Z]

This sounds like a great idea. I just wish it was available to students at more schools.

[Amber Sharif]

The Facebook page is now live and ready for viewing. It is a global page.

[Ross]

The Facebook link just takes me to my homepage. Are you sure its a "global" group?