Prototyping Innovations

Transforming ideas into reality
Once identified, licensed, or co-created, every idea enters a stage of development that is critical to its future as a potential sustained innovation. This stage encompasses the creation of an innovation that could blossom into an actual solution to a problem. At the close of any open innovation approach—be it a prize, hackathon, or co-design session—teams are often left with the backbone of a solution but need additional resources, mentorship, and time to develop it into a viable solution or product that could be scaled to enter the market. The main requirement is a clear idea, model, or product that can be iterated, modeled, and refined over time. The licensing of intellectual property requires a similar pathway toward the development of prototypes.

As potential solutions have been sourced, we shift from a competitive environment to a more collaborative one. At this stage, the goal is the creation of a minimum viable product or prototype. This requires an environment that fosters interaction and feedback, and builds momentum. This stage is also integral to creating the business case for the innovation—a justification for the expected commercial benefit, and pathway to scale and sustainability.

Prototype Recommendations:

•     Build a community of innovators & entrepreneurs in the program that can support and aid each other throughout the process. Although most incubators focus on mentorship, peer-to-peer learning among entrepreneurs can be even more powerful and useful.

•     Engage and create the tribe or community around the challenge areas for co-design and co-development through tech demos and makers faires.

•     Provide and facilitate access to physical resources for innovators to model, iterate, test, and refine solutions into viable products. This may include fab labs and maker’s spaces, app design and testing resources, and wet labs and biohacking tools. This may be through partnerships (e.g., with Green Town Labs outside of Boston), or through building our own dedicated design and engineering studios.

•     Mentor innovators with a curated list of technical experts and design professionals who have committed to providing specific assistance or resources to participants.