Day 0 of the second FNB codeFest was held recently on Spring Day; our theme was the green shoots of ideation.
It’s been said that Thomas Edison figured out 10,000 ways not to make a light bulb; all his attempts still contributed to the one that changed the world. Fintech ideation is a lot about disruptive thinking to find the next big thing but it’s also about good old fashioned persistence. 150 thought leaders from across the bank rolled up their sleeves on a sunny Spring Day in South Africa and got down to some serious sifting of numerous ideas ahead of our annual codefest. [paragraph 1 of 5]
Techpreneurs usually pitch to investors for funding so they can actually start a business and then build their killer app. (Read here about the ecosystems that techpreneurs need to succeed.) Their biggest asset is their brains – they usually don’t have all the “stuff” to make it happen; infrastructure, data, skills, partners. Large banks already have plenty of these assets, we’re just trying to figure out how to use them even better; plus we need some innovative brains to do that well. [2/5]
Killer start-up apps win because they stand out, they do something that no other software has figured out yet. Banking offerings that beat the market bring together multiple parts of a complex whole in a simple, convenient way for their customers; usually in a digital way and highly mobile. There is often a new piece of tech added in, and the new app is only useful because it makes their current banking so much more compelling. [3/5]
Despite already having the best digital channels in South Africa, FNB continues looking for innovative ways to make banking even more compelling. CodeFest ideation creates a platform for business innovators to engage and prioritise the internal IT assets they need access to. (Read here about how to avoid too many hammers and not enough nails at a codefest.) FNB codeFest ideation has created a funnel of viable prototypes; our coding ninjas can be assured of building something really useful at the next stage. [4/5]
Instagram was originally intended to help users counter the effects of Seasonal Affect Disorder by adding rays of fake sunshine to photographs. After plenty of detours and setbacks the 18 month startup eventually sold to Facebook for $1Bn; proving that most awesome ideas start life being fairly average. Equally, like Thomas Edison you need to start with a lot of ideas and not be afraid to try as many as possible. No doubt the real sunshine at our kick off means we get to turn on a few working light bulbs at our main event in a few weeks. [5/5]
Read this article on LinkedIn.
