Can a Prize Bring About New Innovations in Sexual Health?

A prize is an ‘Arthurian romance’ that makes people feel that they can participate in the quest for a solution. Geoffrey Moore, Author Crossing the Chasm What’s your Holy Grail?

TimeSkill Conceptual Framework Concepts or Ideas Products & Services Prototype s “Skill-Based” competition = a challenge that requires intellectual agility (vs. physical talent or chance-to-win) Raw Refined +

Prize: $25,000 ($290K today) Sponsor: Raymond Orteig Target : Anyone brave enough to try Goal: Stimulate long-distance passenger air travel Results: More than $400,000 in investment (16x) Underdog Charles Lindberg wins Within 18 months of his flight:  Passenger air travel increased 30x  Licensed aircraft increased 4X  Aviation stocks soared Historical Analog: The Orteig Prize (1919)

Ansari X PRIZE: Catalyst of the Prize Renaissance Prize: $10,000,000 Sponsor: X PRIZE Foundation Target : Aerospace Engineers Goals: Jumpstart private commercial spaceflight Results: 26 teams from 7 nations More than $100 million invested 5.5B media impressions worth > $120M Changed the paradigm that space is only for governments Public excitement & awareness Drove regulatory reform

Ruckus Nation: Your idea could start a movement Prize: $300,000 Sponsor: HopeLab Target: Sedentary Tweens Goals: A.Innovative products to increase physical activity among middle-school kids B.Shifting the public discourse Results: 400+ entries 37 countries, 42 US states 6 patents filed Distributed network of more than 300 judges Recognized by President Obama as an innovative, high-impact solution

Prize: $150,000 6-month contract Sponsor: Tourism Queensland Target : Open to anyone with a sense of adventure Goals: Tourism & publicity Results: 34,000 applicants from around the world Compelling web-optimized content Global exposure, millions of media impressions Promotion for Australia tourism High ROI: $150k award + operational costs Best Job in the World

Recent Surge in Prize Funding Aggregate prize purse, prizes over $100,000 U.S. $ Millions Source:McKinsey dataset of 227 prizes worth $100,000 or more

Source:McKinsey & Company Seven Ways that Prizes Deliver Change

Why not? Can a Prize Bring About Radical Innovations in Sexual Health?

Ryan Wilson A successful prize gets people to do what they want to do anyways – it just helps them to do it more successfully. Robert Sutton Behavioral Psychologist Thank You!