Constructing My House of Genius
Last week I had the honor of presenting Spigot Labs at a House of Genius session here in Denver. If you haven’t been to one of their events, I would highly recommend applying. I attended first as a panelist almost a year ago and was completely sold on the concept.
Hello, My Name Is…
House of Genius is a little like Fight Club — you’re not really allowed to talk about it. When you arrive and start to mingle, the one and only rule is that you are only known by your first name. No last names, no job descriptions, no career backgrounds or educational chops. Hello, my name is Scott. Nice to meet you.
An interesting side effect of the first-name-only rule is that networking takes on an entirely new look. You’re forced by the very nature to listen carefully to what people say, and respond only to what you hear. There are no outside forces, clout, or preconceived opinions to cloud the simple listen-think-respond flow of conversation. You’re truly meeting people with no agenda, no framework in mind.
The Ask
After everyone settles in, one member of the group stands up to present his/her business. The presentation is only 5 minutes long, and at its conclusion, the business owner presents the House of Genius with The Ask. The Ask is a problem or challenge that the business owner is facing. As a presenter, you’re encouraged to choose an Ask that could benefit from a variety of perspectives — you want the challenge to be difficult, which naturally makes conversation more interesting.
It’s also worth mentioning that the presenting businesses are not limited to the tech space. The business and the Ask can be absolutely anything from a home-based marketing consultancy to a modern online marketplace for buying/selling work trailers to a phone app for tracking professional skier training progress. In fact, these are 3 real businesses that I’ve seen present at House of Genius. To all of these businesses, you, the panelist, are a genius with one simple task — help them solve their biggest challenge.
Clarify That, Please
After the presentation, each member of the panel (usually 18–20 geniuses) is given an opportunity to ask any clarifying questions. At this point, expressing opinions or engaging the presenter in lengthy discussion is discouraged. The idea is to clarify anything that wasn’t perfectly clear from the presentation.
Gorilla Brain
Credit to James Capps, the organizer of House of Genius Denver, for this one. At this point in our session, James asked the panelists to let their gorilla brains loose for gut reactions to the presenter’s idea and challenge. He quickly corrected himself with “lizard brain”, but I have to admit that I like the term “gorilla brain” better. It’s important to note that the presenter has to be entirely quiet for this phase — no responding to the geniuses.
During the onslaught of gorilla brain reactions, I was entirely amazed at the variety of opinions I heard. Many observations about Spigot Labs were common things that I hear every time I talk about the business. Others delved further into the sales model or the marketing strategy or competing technologies. As I frantically scribbled notes I chuckled at the idea that I didn’t know which feedback was from a technology CTO and which was from a professional rock climber. It turns out both were on the panel.
Open Range
After all the gorilla brains have spoken, the panel turns into an open discussion forum. The presenter is able to address some of the gorilla feedback, and the conversation ebbs and flows to whichever interesting topics were brought to light. I give the moderators a lot of credit during this phase — they do a great job of directing conversation and making sure that everyone has an opportunity to contribute.
Typically there are 2 or 3 of these presentations during a single House of Genius session. After each presentation is complete, the presenter joins the panel, and an otherwise unknown panel member stands up to present. It’s nice to have an opportunity to be on both sides of the table during a single session.
The Reveal
Finally, after all the presentations have been made, it’s time for the reveal. In my opinion, this is where the magic of House of Genius really shines. Each person takes a turn describing who they are and what they do — and it’s almost NEVER what you would expect. It’s a testament to the panelist curation that each group contains a wide variety of business people, creatives, finance minds, and technically savvy engineers. I always feel a great satisfaction at the quality of ideas and insight I hear from panelists that I might never have interacted with otherwise.
Overall I think the experience is extremely rewarding for both the presenter and the panel. I highly encourage you to apply for a session at a House of Genius near you!
