Starmind Blog

DRS1 is “the most frequently listened radio in Switzerland, interconnects generations, entertains and keeps you up to date on any news”.  The Swiss Radio DRS1 treats topics with high impact on society, culture and business. On Saturday, July 17, 2010, 08:15h Swiss time a reportage was broadcast about Starmind. In the context of the summer series on innovation in business and society Starmind is portrayed interviewing Pascal Kaufmann and Marc Vontobel, Partners of the Starmind International Corporation. The roots of Starmind, the philosophy and the innovative architecture of the new service were discussed and future developments outlined. Enjoy!

Download podcast from Saturday, July 17, 2010, 08:15h Swiss Time here
Tinyurl: http://tinyurl.com/2vfu9gb

Pascal Kaufmann is founder, CEO and chairman of the board of directors of Starmind. His focus lies on business development, branding and the growth of Starmind in selected target segments.

Pascal Kaufmann graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) in Biology and IT, receiving his masters degree in Biology with specialization in Neurosciences. He carries out research at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in Oerlikon, focussing on biological and artificial neural networks, consciousness research, cyborg technology, humanoid robotics, virtual reality, bio ethics, modern philosophy, innovation management, crowdsourcing and know-how trading. He also is an active user of Starmind:

„As a researcher at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the University of Zurich, I am faced with a lot of scientific challenges. Starmind allows me to get in touch with brilliant minds all over the world and to obtain inputs on our research challenges. On Starmind, the most precious human resource is traded: human brainpower and ingenuity.“

He is not only founder of Starmind, but also of several associations, following his personal phiosophy: “Fortes fortuna adiuvat” – “Fortune favours the brave”  (Terenz, 185-160 bc).

View Pascal’s Starmind Profile

Starmind starts the first financing round giving out shares to selected investors and partners.
On May 28, 2010 Marc Vontobel, Starmind’s head IT and partner of Starmind together with Pascal Kaufmann, former president and founder of Starmind Ltd. have successfully signed off the foundation of the new company “Starmind International AG”. The foundation in Zurich’s notary office was supervised by Andreas Niemack from the internationally operating Swiss trust company Interis AG.

Starmind has roots at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich and was initially installed as an association operated by University and ETH graduates. Later, Starmind Ltd. was founded as a private liability company (Gmbh), allowing Starmind to close first collaboration contracts with partners and universities and to effectively trade know-how. With the increasing interest in Starmind from the side of users, business clients and potential investors a new legal structure was designed allowing investors to purchase Starmind shares strengthening Starmind’s financial basis in a first financing round. The Starmind company is supported by a highly distinguished advisory board representing different industries and sectors, supporting the Starmind board of directors headed by Pascal Kaufmann and Marc Vontobel. Starmind Ltd. will be integrated into the corporation and focus on Starmind’s business services.

The successful Starmind launch was then celebrated at Club Amber in Zurich to which team members, VIPs and various Starmind supporters have been invited. The SHAB publication date was set to 10.06.2010, Publ. 5668510.

On May 3, 2010 the Alumni umbrella association at University of Zurich and Starmind have closed a collaboration agreement.

The Alumni association of university of Zurich unites 20 member associations representing all faculties of university of Zurich. University of Zurich (UZH) is the largest university in Switzerland with student numbers exceeding 25’000.

The international Starmind network shall further increase the number of active Alumni UZH members while synergies and measures are conducted together. The agreement defines a dedicated Starmind access and exclusive features for Alumni members so as to facilitate know-how exchange. Also, Starmind helps to increase the visibility of outstanding talents and strengthens the expanding Alumni network.

Starmind welcomes the new Alumni members on Starmind! For more information please refer to the press release.

How does Starmind work? Pascal Kaufmann details the mechansims and the philosophy of Starmind. “The lower a posted financial reward is, the more likely are you to attract creative and truly outstanding solutions. Starmind introduces an intelligent pricing mechanism with rewards increasing over time, fueling a global competition for outstanding solutions.” see youtube

How could the future of Open Innovation look like? “I think that in the future information will have no value since everyone can access it at any time. In contrast, the economic value of innovative individuals and talents is increasing significantly as differentiation and competitive advantage become more and more important. In a world war for talents, users become aware that their know-how is precious and can generate added value, so that they may become less likely to share their know-how for free. The future of open innovation may not be so open eventually.” see youtube

How Starmind is used as an HR tool for recruiting talents: “Several companies and employers use Starmind to single out talents and potential candidates for their open positions.  Instead of processing hundreds of handed in CVs,  employers can post a problem on Starmind that the successful candidate would face in his prospective position anyway. Depending on the solution the employer receives not hundred CVs need to be sorted out but just a few solutions need to be considered based on which you learn a lot about your candidate.  On Starmind you can also limit the number of solutions you like to receive usually 2-3 handed in concepts are sufficient. It is much easier just handing in excellent CVs, yet a lot more difficult to solve a problem and present the solution in an understandable manner. If that hurdle is successfully passed the candidate does not only earn the financial reward posted on Starmind but is also invited for an interview.  Checking out the CV would be more efficient and would make more sense when you already know that your candidate is able to solve the problems your business is facing.” see youtube