Co-Creative Business Models

Local Motors is one of our favorite companies because of its totally co-created business model – from design to operations to production of cars. It's an approach that could literally redefine manufacturing. So it was great to spend a day at the Local Motors micro-factory in Phoenix for the PDMA Conference on Social Product Development and Co-Creation.

One of the most interesting talks at #CoCreatePDMA was by Ben Kaufman, CEO/founder of Quirky, another company modeled on co-creation. In his short presentation, we learned a lot about the importance of good ideas, the principle of transparency, and the power of passion. Quirky serves as midwife to inventors, bringing two new consumer products to market each week. One of the latest is the Pivot Power strip that fits large adapters in every outlet. We were pleased to bring home Kaufman's demo model from Phoenix. It's a really cool why-didn't-someone-think-of-that-before product (below).

– Edward Prewitt