Crowdsourcing is predicted to outshine innovation. According to one research, nearly 50% entrepreneurs/startups are developing “knowledge-as-a-service” models, and crowdsourcing (not innovation)is THE jump-starter. Crowdsourcing has crowdsortium. Innovation hasn’t.

Google crowdsources creating maps in India.

But, crowd-wisdom has limitations and might encounter black-swans in complex systems.

LEGO, which almost went bankrupt in 1990s, changed its “chief-brick,” started an adult line, appointed ambassadors and is back on track – open innovation+customer engagement.

Threadless, MyStarbucksIdea – crowdsourcing successes; Apple iPhone, Starbucks VIA, …  successes ignoring crowd-wisdom.

Crowd-wisdom as “corporate/customer democracy” is oxymoron – an intermediate layer filters/selects raw input.

Crowdsourcing + innovation = ?(needn’t be 0-sum game)