I’ve got 99 problems, so why not talk about one?

We all got [business] problems, however, far too often, everyone tries to mask them. Previously fast growth start-up’s hide the fact that their growth has plateaued, incumbent’s worry about their declining market share, managers and founders struggle with a growing team. For venture capital backed start-ups, large funding rounds are celebrated but what happened in the 4 year delay between seed to Series A? How did the team experiment and fail?

House of Genius aim is to give businesses a space to speak about their problems. We believe that business challenges can be discussed and brainstormed.

Over the past 5 years, House of Genius has supported hundreds of start-ups by allowing them to “Pitch their problems.” We turn traditional pitching events on their head. Instead of a financial ask, we allow businesses the opportunity to discuss what they are struggling with and receive feedback in our brainstorming nights.

The format is the following:

A business has 5 minutes to pitch what their business does to a room full of experts. For the final minute of their presentation, the business explains to the room 2–3 major problems they are facing. These problems can be anything, some examples include:

How to correctly define my value prop?

Who should my target customer be?

How do I sell to corporates?

How do I correctly set my pricing strategy?

What market should I expand to next?

Etc.

After the business presents their problems, the experts or “genius panel” has the opportunity to ask clarifying questions to the business. Once everyone in the room feels confident about the problems the business is facing, each person on the genius panel provides the business with feedback for one or all of their problems.

The business walks away with a ~1hour long brainstorm session with a diverse set of minds however the panelists also benefit. The panelists get to hear 15 different approaches to solving the business problem at hand, a mental framework that they can then use for solving their own companies challenges.

On top of this, by focusing the discussion around problem solving, it allows everyone in the room to connect in a more human way. Unlike other networking events where attendees may be unsure of who to speak to, at House of Genius connections are formed around each person’s ability to brainstorm solutions. We have seen nearly every kind of connection made off the back of our events whether it is: a new hires, a co-founder, a mentor, an investor or even a friend.

House of Genius events are invitation only. If you would like to attend a House of Genius event as either a business or as a member of the genius panel, you can apply here.