> Interview with the Founder of hypios

Where did he come up with the idea for hypios? We sat down with Oussama Ammar and asked about the origins of hypios, starting a start-up and finding hypsters, his previous endeavors, and what it's like to be a teenage computer whiz.
Oussama Ammar founded hypios in April, 2008. Oussama is accountable to all hypios stakeholders and is responsible for the global strategic direction and operational execution of hypios. Since founding his first web company at the age of twelve, Oussama's business endeavors range from developing web platforms to structuring cross-border LBO transactions. He studied philosophy, logic and law at the Sorbonne.

» So you got the idea for hypios from a journal?

In fact, I originally had an idea about an innovation having to do with exchanges on the financial market. Creating a platform for that was going to be too expensive, so I was in the market for a cheaper project. Then about 18 months ago I read an article claiming that a marketplace for ideas was impossible. Then I had it. The idea of new ways of conducting exchange was the guiding thread.

» What in our idea of exchange needed updating?

The way I saw it at the time (and the way I still see it, more or less) is that there is a traditional model of exchange, one in which there is a creator and a buyer. And in a marketplace for ideas, both parties need protection: the creator needs to make sure that once the idea is shared, they buyer will commit into paying the idea. On the other hand, the buyer wants to be sure to pay for a solution that is worth it.
hypios brings the two parties together in a safe environment. Our close relationships with our seekers (and other legal measures) make sure that the creator and her idea are protected. At the same time, we give the buyer access to an enormous community of solvers who are not only able to offer solutions, they're also likely to know if a solution for the problem already exists. I often like to say, 'Why would someone want to reinvent the wheel if all he has to do is ask for one? And once a solution is submitted to the seeker, we leverage the collective experience of our solvers by having them evaluate the submitted solution. I am not ready to say that our model is flawless, but the traditional model of sharing ideas was simply no longer efficient.

» What do you do when your idea for a business is a concept?

You simplify it, because reality is not as complex as you think. I spent about 9 months just doing that. For instance, you might think that you'd have to come up with something really complicated to convince a company that is used to incubating and developing its ideas in-house to use an open platform like hypios. In fact, it has just been a matter of clearly delineating what kinds of problems hypios is adept and efficient at solving and which ones it is not suited for. One of the first things that puzzles people when I explain hypios is whether companies are willing to use us given the worries about revealing company intelligence, etc. But there are different problems: if it has got to do with a core competency for your company, you might want to deal with it yourself. But then... well, that leaves everything else, which ends up being quite a lot.