Frequently Asked Questions

Q. I signed up five minutes ago. Why haven’t I received my account activation message?

A. Please check your “junk mail” folder – some email providers mistake our emails for spam. If you have a “safe senders” list, please consider adding noreply@box2.mo.jo to that list, as this will ensure you will receive our emails in future.

Q. What kind of ideas should I post?

A. The only restrictions are that it should be legal, and fit with Cancer Research UK’s brand: e.g. ideas that promote use of cigarettes or alcohol are probably out. Beyond that, please feel free to post anything that you believe has the potential to succeed and to grow.

Q. What kind of comments should I post?

A. We’re keen on constructive criticism. If you think an idea needs work, suggestions for specific improvements (e.g. “how would it make money?”, “I don’t see how you would market this”) are much more useful than a vague dismissal (“this will never work”). If you think an idea is great, please don’t be afraid to say so! Everyone appreciates recognition and encouragement.

Q. Does my idea need to include a business model, market research, supporting data, etc?

A. No. We want to find high quality ideas with the potential to succeed, and make them even better. They don’t have to start off perfect. If you have thought through all the details and want to share, do go ahead. However, we encourage you to post ideas in a more raw stage, so that the Open Ventures community can work with you to develop them.

Q. How do you calculate the idea rating?

A. For each section of the idea, we take the average of everyone’s ratings for that section to give the star rating for that section. Then the overall idea rating is the average of the ratings of all sections. This means to get a high rating, an idea has to be well-rounded and get high ratings in all sections.

Q. How do you sort by popularity?

A. We apply some statistics to ensure that ideas with many high ratings are ranked as the most popular. For example, we aim to rank an idea with many 4 star ratings higher than an idea with just a few 5 star ratings. Technically speaking, we use the “lower bound of a Wilson score confidence interval”. Evan Miller provides a clear explanation of problems that can arise when sorting by average rating and a mathematical description of the solution that we use.

Q. I gave an idea a low rating, but now it has been improved. Can I change my rating?

A. Not yet. Soon we will let you change your rating when an idea changes. In the mean time, why not leave a comment telling the author you like the change they made?