She closed the startup and came up with a vacancy that does not exist – an unusual way to find work

Olga Muchnik, founder of the advertalist platform for creative contests, tells in a column for AIN.UA why she decided to close the startup and wants to find a job that does not exist.

Information: Advertalist is a platform where the customer gives a creative task and allocates a monetary reward, everyone can send their own version of the work, the selected winner receives money.

My startup – advertalist

When I came up with an advertalist, I had no idea who and where was working in this direction. I began to look for foreign analogues in marketing and design, found and began to observe them. Some, such as 99designs, specialized in logos, corporate identity, packaging. Others were involved in video contests. But the third group, for example, Eyeka, Innocentive, HeroX, Mindsumo, held contests for “invent, reinvent, rethink”. And right from the main page we started confidently offering innovations, breakthroughs and inventions.

These were not contests for abstract trend ideas “but let’s use augmented reality for supermarkets” or “add a line of products with artificial meat”. By default, participants were expected to have creative ideas – quick to implement, unexpected, effective. In addition, they often needed to be set out in 1-2 pages. That is, the focus of these platforms has always been on understandable and practical innovations.

Come up with ideas for a new loyalty program for Axa Insurance, a new product or service for pedigree pet owners, and offer a new lid shape for Coca-Cola. What could be the new experience of drinking coffee, how the washing of the future looks like, or how useful it is to recycle sneakers.

It was these platforms, with contests for ideas and innovations, that became my guideline. But we usually had a demand for visual categories – banner design, packaging, merchandising. I expected to do such contests, but gradually move towards more ambitious projects. We simply refused from many contests that appeared on moderation, realizing that you can get a stream of tactical tasks like on freelance platforms. But then it will be difficult to return to contests for ideas.

They tried to make the realized competitions interesting, causing creative excitement, even if it was a question of the package design. I wanted to attract people who in the buzz to invent and build a community that can give value to large companies.

In 2019, the platform grew to 3,000 authors, we held contests for Roshen, Prostor, Winetime, and before the New Year we signed a framework agreement with Kyivstar for a number of competitions.

Big customers are a long and difficult negotiation. And of course, a big responsibility, which is growing, given the hundreds of competitive works and the need for their verification of plagiarism.

For example, textual borrowings in scripts, visual copying of a style or plot. Not to mention the difficulty of testing ideas that can be described in other words, but to fully borrow the essence.

Foreign platforms solve this issue in different ways, manual checks or special programs. But even software developed by Google and Adobe does not offer a full guarantee. At the same time, in established markets, fear of prosecution keeps people from plagiarism. And while we have the Wild West and there may appear those who wish to take a chance.

Moreover, there were constantly questions from the participants: “What if the customer steals my idea? The competition will be held, and then he will use it quietly”.

That is, the topic of intellectual property in our market is acute and painful for everyone, just like politics. And any suspicion or coincidence leads to a trial.

I want to work with innovation

So, it turned out that there is a long way to go in the direction of innovation contests, new investments in the originality verification system and the need to constantly manage the risk of plagiarism. Around this time, I read an article in the Harvard Business Review, “What type of innovator does your company need?” I recognized myself as a lawyer and motivator and began to think more and more often that I wanted to work with innovations myself, and not be an organizer and intermediary.

Therefore, I decided to close the advertalist and continue to search not for an open vacancy, but for a company that is interested in innovation and transformation. These functions are sometimes performed by marketers, business strategists, or tops themselves. A separate position is almost never found. But she has an advantage – a person who is focused only on innovation can like a hound hunt for ideas of a new and useful for each brand, product, service, project and internal business process of the company. Search for situational and long-term innovations, small and large-scale, technological and behavioral.

Why do I think I am fit for this role? I have more than 10 years of experience in consulting and internal audit, knowledge and practical application of lean-management. I am an analyst who has experienced a turbulent and intense immersion in creativity and marketing and has gained entrepreneurial experience.

I am well acquainted with the Ukrainian and global startup ecosystem and all the related innovations through other business models, distribution channels, communications, etc. And finally, I’m an info review, I’m interested in everything from beekeeping to RFID tags. This is actually my nightmare and weakness. But it is useful from the point of view of innovations, as a designer of ideas and functions from different industries, technologies and cultures.

By the way, here my CV.

Source: ain.ua