The Crucible – Solve for X
June 2019
I believe this project will enable me to better develop innovative optimization models that are approachable and usable for decision makers in the national malaria programmes.”
– Chelsea Green, Xinova innovator
Xinova turned two this month, but what does that mean for someone like me who has been “here” for 9.5 years, and for some members of our network who have been with “us” since 2006? While every startup has a pivot or two, ours was so big relative to the time before that we consider Xinova to be two years old. Internally we call this era “Xinova 2.0” so it’s fitting to highlight that we’re two years in.
No matter how you count the years, we count ourselves lucky to be in the company of such distinguished innovators, both long-tenured and brand new – whichever you are. Our diversity of innovators is represented in the five-person team brainstorming and testing solutions to fight malaria with better supply chain data.
We’re continuously re-tooling under the hood and we recently launched features allowing us to partition projects into smaller and smaller pieces with more clearly defined milestones. This work will propagate to the Xinova platform as numerous opportunities of different scale. Think of it like chapters of a book vs an entire anthology.
Or think of it like a movie in the Marvel comic franchise, which I mentioned last month. While I’ve certainly not seen half of the franchise, I was able to pick and choose the films from it that appealed to me. We want to bring that value to the platform: it’s not just about access to opportunities, but providing an abundance of opportunities that lets you pick the best match for your skills and interests, with a balance of incentives that range from equity to fee-for-service.
It’s yet another way that we’re working to make it easier to work with Xinova and our partners. Please join us as we lead the charge into year three!
–Brad Roberts
Global Head of Network Platform
Featured Opportunities
Xinova Facilitator Program
Seeking Facilitators who can lead innovator teams through an interactive 8-10 week project cycle to ideate, document, and present solution concepts to Xinova clients.
Healthy Crackers
Veggie crackers are a healthy snack alternative, but their dough is too wet and sticky for mass production. Help us figure out how to dry it out.
Request for Concept Development Partners for “Get the inside out”
We’re seeking qualified concept development partners to advance great ideas in paperboard canisters closer to commercialization. Make sure to update your profile. The more we know about you the easier it’ll be for us to match you with upcoming opportunities. Get a jump on the next one!
Xinova Updates
The outlook on R&D: five practical insights from IRI
In April of 2019, 5 members of the Xinova team traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to attend the IRI Annual Conference. The conference attracts Leaders in Innovation from all over the globe to talk about everything R&D. While these companies span a wide variety of industries, many innovators were seeking solutions to similar problems.
What’s your innovator’s dilemma?
At the IRI Annual Conference, we asked attendees, “What’s your innovator’s dilemma?” Here are their answers.
The Future of Work
The future of work will make the future work for innovators in a post-gig-economy populated by a globally distributed network of experts engaging in complex, long-term innovation projects.
OUR GOAL: a world free of malaria
You may recall the opportunity that went out a few months ago, “Defeating Malaria with Data”. We had a great response, resulting in a select team of innovators who are now lending their diverse expertise toward an innovative solution. This team of innovators just converged in Seattle, WA to brainstorm and test truly innovative solutions designed to improve the timeliness, quality and visibility of data for the malaria supply chain in Northern Nigeria.
Featured Innovator
Meet Chelsea Greene
Why Chelsea Green is joining Nigeria’s fight against malaria
“At the end of the speech I cheered YES WE CAN and NDIO NUEZA (yes we can in Tanzanian Swahili), and I meant it with all of my heart, because in those two weeks I learned how much of a difference I can really make. I believe we can all make a difference, we just need to believe in ourselves and have faith that we can do it.”
-Chelsea Green, PhD student, Xinova innovator
Xinova in the news
Xinova named Best Workplace in Washington
Seattle Magazine recognized Xinova as one of the 100 best places to work. At the event reception, we were honored as the #13 midsize company to work for!