Using Idea Contagion to Combat Virus Contagion
"Virtual Idea Blitz" in response to COVID-19 (March 20-22)
Virtual Idea Blitz
Hosted by:
UPDATE:
Grants now available for entrepreneurs and teams working on solutions in response to COVID-19.
See the announcement -- click here
Apply for the grant -- click here
The Weekend Idea Blitz
Recognizing the need for collaborative cross-functional solutions to the Covid-19 situation, a group of Entrepreneurship & Management Professors from Indiana University have adapted the “idea blitz” process -- used by today’s most innovative firms -- to help surface and accelerate ideas focused on helping our community navigate this virus.
The first idea blitz weekend took place on March 20-22. Over 200 entrepreneurs, technologists, engineers, MDs, VCs, professors, students from around the world came together to surface ideas and get them to the basic prototype stage. By design, the event was fast and furious – it all took place over just a weekend – Ideas were related to medical resources, tech applications, social distancing products/services, remote working, community interventions, virtual education, health outreach, etc.
The goals of the program include expanding awareness of the many pain points associated with the virus outbreak and response, championing collective efforts to develop solutions, and if viable orchestrating a collective response through social entrepreneurship and volunteerism.
The outcomes of the weekend were extraordinary and immensely gratifying. An open call was issued and participants from around the world joined the effort. Over 20 ideas emerged (original projections were maybe 3 or 4 would surface) and teams were formed and challenged to move from idea to prototype and pitch within 48 hours. Pitches from (most of)* the teams appear below.
Basic Overview:
Friday (5:30 pm): Launch and join a team to discuss pain points and begin to develop an idea.
Saturday (All Day): Continue blitzing and work on project
Sunday (All Day): Finalize idea and prototype, create pitch videos. Evening Virtual Reception.
*some teams opted not to post thier pitch videos publically for a variety of reasons.
About
This event was a collaborative effort between several entrepreneurship and management professors at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
Organizing Group & Presenters:
Regan Stevenson
Will Geohegan
Matt Josefy
Trent Williams
Sophie Bacq
Greg Fisher
200+
Participants
21
Ideas
48
Hours
∞
Social Value
Highlights from the original COVID-19 Idea Blitz
(Mar 20 -22, 2020- Hosted Virtually by Indiana University Kelley School)
Pitch Videos
In just 48 hours the teams developed their ideas, created MVPs, and recorded pitch videos for their concepts. Take a look at them below.
Mentors
We want to thank all of our professional mentors from around the world who participated in our initial virtual idea blitz weekend.
Bhargav Pandravada
Brad Fulton
Brian Bergman
Carolyn Goerner
Chantal van Esch
Cristiano Guarana
Cy Megnin
Dan Meek
Doyle Buehler
Emily Neubert
Eric Steele
Eric Zorrilla
Erica Kovacs
Fred Schlegel
Goran Calic
Jason Whitney
Jim Davis
Joel Adams
Kyle Keeney
Mark Gramelspacher
Markus Vodosek
Matt Josefy
Matthew Kolakowski
Nico Ferreyra
Pam Hoelzle
Pat Flanders
Regan Stevenson
Richard Ash
Robbie Grigg
Sara Cochran
Sarrah Lal
Sophie Bacq
Susan Loucks
Tatiana Kolovou
Tony Farmer
Victor Bongard
Vishal Sresth
Will Geoghegan
Abigail Wirtz
Adam Sobol
Aimee Gervais
Aisha Kokan
Aishwar Agarwal (Idea Lead)
AJ Raymond
Akhila Sharma
Akshay Garg
Alaina Thompson
Alec Levine (Idea Lead)
Ali Amin (Idea Lead)
Amanda Collins
Amani Jambhekar (Idea Lead)
Amit Kulkarni (Idea Lead)
Andy Dinger
Anoop Chinthala (Idea Lead)
Angie Washburn (Idea Lead)
Anita ANANTHARAM
Ashley Cribb (Idea Lead)
Ben St James
Bill Riantan
Bo Li
Brian Tao
Bryce Bow (Idea Lead)
Chase Rosett
Chloe LaPlante
Cristina Suazo
Cullie Poseria
Dalit Merenfeld (Idea Lead)
Dani Traphagen
Daniel Guerra
Devin Burnell
Drew Fagin
Emily Helbing
Emma Goulet
Eric Ramos
Ethan Feder
Fakhouri Xavier
Fatmeh Fawaz (Idea Lead)
Frances Untalan
Gabriella Paniccia
Grace Mower
Greg Riffel
Hal Beresford
Hannah Smalley
Harrison Wesner
Huixuan Ding
Hunter Hawley (Idea Lead)
Ian Ashcraft (Idea Lead)
Jake Goldberg
Jason Pennington
Jenni Dinger (Idea Lead)
Jesse Wolfe (Idea Lead)
Jing Yue
Joe Wojniak (Idea Lead)
Josh Bromberg
Justin Phillips
Kat Grigg
Keerthana Indukuri
Kelsey Gregory (Idea Lead)
Kendrah Neff
Kenna Worcester
Laura Swaney
Lauren Marino
Leah DeVito (Idea Lead)
Leela Breithaupt
Lizzie Turner
Luke Montgomery
Marcus Gershenberg (Idea Lead)
Markus Vodosek
Matthew Kolakowski
Matthieu Jarrett
Mia Melchiorre
Michael Suttle
Michael Wayne
Mithun Rajan
MJ Lowinger
Nick Chominski
Nishant Medicharla (Idea Lead)
Panayiota Panayi
Parvez Kokan (Idea Lead)
Patrick Ochynski (Idea Lead)
Paul Micheli
Pavithra Sachidananda
Perry Kimelman (Idea Lead)
Pratshik Vaghela (Idea Lead)
Regina Funk
Saksham Sinha
Sakshi Agarwal
Salomon Levy
Samson Pollak
Sanil Sawlani
Sean Nees
Sonam Vashist
Sourav Sinha (Idea Lead)
Steven Nowaczyk
Steven Rigg
Sunthoshi Tejaswi Kothapalli
Susan Hanover (Idea Lead)
Suzana Nikitovic (Idea Lead)
Sydney Manis
Syrenah Stein
Taylor Worthington
Tijmen van der Maas (Idea Lead)
Trevor Cook (Idea Lead)
Tucker Burton
Varda He
Vishi Singh
WANSHU(Rita) CHOU
Weijia Wang
Will Hobick (Idea Lead)
Xenia Qian
Yusuke Katsuyama (Idea Lead)
Participants
Thank you to all of our participants.
Past Events
Want to run an idea blitz in your organization or institution?
In addition to the launch of several new social ventures, the idea blitz program does two other critical things.
1. First, it harnessed the nervous energy felt by many and redirected their time and energy into a positive, constructive outlet. Participants received an entrepreneurial learning experience and also compared the weekend to a form of positive group therapy.
2. Second, our COVID-19 idea sprint was one of the first virtual collective movements in the world to bring together entrepreneurship, tech, doctors and other professionals. Since we completed our idea sprint, several other institutions from around the world have announced plans to launch in their own regions. Usually, when you’re thinking about strategy, you’re thinking about what you can do better than anybody else. In this case, if we broadcast an idea and somebody else decides to replicate, alter, or improve on our idea sprint, then that would be a fantastic outcome. All of humanity is united in this fight!
If you would like to run an idea blitz for your organization facilitated by our team, please feel free to contact us for more details by clicking here