Think Big Money

I was anticipating a glitzy affair to spotlight the brightest ideas for exploiting the super-fast Google Fiber in KC. I was especially keen on proposals focusing on public or social needs, but with only an hour I was not able to see all the presentations. I sat in on the tail end of a presentation by Somametric, but only caught references to “audiences” and “biometrics,” so I did not gather information to assess it’s focus or innovation level.

Image from live stream from the Think Big awards ceremony announcing winner of the contest.

According to the Kansas City Star’s report of the award, the one presentation I listened in on was by high school students, which the reporter mentioned as the “most polished pitch." “They made a convincing argument about using the fat data pipe of Google’s coming fiber-optic lines to stream video in a cable-like service at a better price. Their yet-developed product, Hong, would note programs individual viewers watch to gauge their interests and then target ads accordingly.”

I don’t want to demean the boldness of the teenagers’ ideas, but the notion that one of the best presentations focused on a tired television model of allowing TV viewers to choose (and pay for) only the channels they prefer is not original or innovative.


The event in an auditorium in the Plaza library was attended by 100-150 people, predominantly white males with many dressed in suits. Clearly there was an expectation of a sale to be made or a contract to be signed -- business to be had.

Later in the day I listened to the award ceremony via a live video stream back in the office and learned the award winner was one that would revolutionize...financial decision-making, “chaff of asset-backed securities such as default credit swaps,” according to the KC Star article. Other award winners were a site for job seekers and a company providing computer server and storage space.

No one wants to temper the excitement, the pure potential of the idea, but it was clearly a platform for entrepreneurs to pursue funding -- how else to explain the winners.

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