Need a Problem?

Three guys from Switzerland have found a new business model: They create problems for their customers. You might know the film called “The Game” where Michael Douglas as a bored but rich investment banker gets involved in a kind of game.

The three guys from Switzerland make a lot of money with their project called “need a problem” now. On the website www.needaproblem.com you can pay and they are going to give you a problem to solve. Prices vary from Swiss Franc 1.- for very small problems to Swiss Franc 5000.- for nearly unsolvable problems.

The German newspaper “Die Zeit” writes in an article:

Gerade diese Geheimniskrämerei macht neugierig. Ein verratenes 5000-Franken-Beispiel lautet etwa: „Unsere Kollegin Christiane Brum erwartet Sie am Sonntag im Hotel Othon Palace, in Belo Horizonte, auf ein gemeinsames Mittagessen. Treffpunkt um 12 Uhr Ortszeit.“ Nicht zu unterschätzender Teil des Problems ist, dass Belo Horizonte im Inneren Brasiliens liegt. Was genau den solventen Kunden dort erwartet, ist vollkommen offen, „denn die Probleme sind sehr unterschiedlich“, wie Koncilja betont.

For everybody who doesn’t know German language the text says that because of making a secret out of every problem it is interesting for customers. One 5000 Swiss Franc problem was for example the following: “Our colleague Christiane Brum is waiting for you at Hotel Othon Place in Belo Horizonte this Sunday in order to have lunch with you. She is waiting there exactly at 12.00 o’clock midday.” Doesn’t sound so difficult. But if you think about the fact that Belo Horizonte is in the center of Brasil (see in Google Maps) then you might agree that is is difficult.

Very interesting project which seems to work very well. By now I don’t have to get problems created manually, I have enough problems to solve. Well check out their site if you are interested or leave me a comment on what you think about this project? Do we need to create problems manually?

(via zeit online)