Startup Teamput Facilitates Virtual Ideation Sessions

teamput logo
Associate Professor at Thunderbird School of Global Management Bill Youngdahl, Ph.D., has teamed up with 14falcons technical co-founder Fletcher Fowler to launch Teamput.com, a cloud-based, sticky-note brainstorming and ideation site. Teamput.com allows multiple participants to join a brainstorming session and uses virtual sticky notes for the ideation process. The site aims to “generate better ideas to make better decision, increase commitment and accountability, and leverage diversity through inclusion.”
Youngdahl told AZ Tech Beat, “For me, this journey was personal. I’ve seen too many smart people on the outside looking in as decisions were being made. When we fail to listen to others’ ideas we miss important input that could have led to smarter decisions and greater commitment. We’ve all been these people on the outside looking in at some point. When there’s too much of this happening, organizational effectiveness goes out the window.”
Youngdahl drew inspiration for Teamput from his consulting experience working in Thunderbird’s MBA, Executive MBA, and Executive Education programs. He saw that “existing web applications did not adequately mirror the private and collaborative aspects of face-to-face brainstorming,” so he partnered with Fowler to create Teamput and found a way to capture live brainstorming sessions.
Fowler commented, “To give everyone a voice, there has to be an element of privacy, and no one else is supporting this capability. Without it, we are no different from group chatting.”
Participants can sign up for the service and engage with other participants in projects via a shared “canvas.” Users can create and manipulate notes, checklists, and images including adding them, moving them, and changing their color.
“My personal pursuit and professional passion in developing Teamput has been to ensure that everyone has a voice,” Youngdahl said. “With that voice will come better decisions, greater commitment, and much less frustration.”
For more information on Teamput, click here.