Entrepreneurs and Wicked Problems

Higley, T. (2019). Entrepreneurs and Wicked Problems. Solutions 10(1): 76–82. https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/entrepreneurs-and-wicked-problems

Feature

Entrepreneurs and Wicked Problems

by Tom Higley

In Brief

Copyright – 10.10.10, used with permission

Some of the 10.10.10 2017 Water CEOs share a laugh

“

T

om, I hate you.”  These were Eric Marcoullier’s words to me on day three of our second ever 10.10.10 program—a 10 day program that brings 10 successful serial entrepreneurs together for 10 days to explore market-based solutions to wicked problems. We call these successful serial entrepreneurs “prospective CEOs” because although they’ve founded companies in the past, they aren’t currently CEOs of a company. They participate in 10.10.10 because they plan—at some point in the next 12 months— to start a new venture. And we want to help and inspire them to do just that. The organizations I have created in the past four years—10.10.10 and X Genesis—are focused on these two things: (1) helping successful

serial entrepreneurs find “founder opportunity fit” so they will make better decisions about what they do with the next chapter of their lives; and (2) turning entrepreneurs’ and investors’ attention and investment toward the opportunities disguised as wicked problems—in health, water, food, energy, learning, infrastructure, waste, security and climate. That’s how Eric and I came to be speaking with each other at this particular moment. Eric was one of 10 prospective CEOs I’d invited to participate in the program, and he wanted me to understand what he was feeling. He wasn’t feeling good. Some months before this, Eric had approached me seeking an invitation to the upcoming program. Eric is a friend.

76  |  Solutions  |  January 2019  |  www.thesolutionsjournal.com

Over the course of the last five years, 10.10.10 has been exploring an entirely new approach to creating systemic change in systems like health, food, water, energy, learning, infrastructure, waste, security and climate. Five cohorts—including 50 entrepreneurs, large organizations and institutions and hundreds of volunteers—have given 10 days of their lives to learn about wicked problems and explore the possibility that new solutions and new ventures could be created to address these problems. Eight new ventures have been created and more are on the way. One of these ventures, created by a prospective CEO in the first program, uses blockchain to connect individuals, organizations and services and deliver health data securely. Another, created by a woman with a strong technology background but little experience in health, has raised nearly USD$6 million to deliver better, more effective and lower cost health benefits to smaller self-insured employers. A third has attacked the water quality problem that nearly destroyed Flint Michigan, winning four pitch competitions and raising more than USD$1.5 million to deliver the first on-demand, from the source testing device that provides real results in real-time about water that is consumed in the home. So far, so good.