Introduction to Sources

Last updated September 2025

What is it?

Sources are a categorization tool that enables users to see how their organization met a partner. They are a useful tool for tracking and monitoring where your innovation partners come from. By doing this you can gain valuable insights into your organization's innovation efforts and optimize your approach. For example, if you know that 70% of your innovation partners come from one specific event, that would be a great event to invest more resources in.

How to use it?

To use sources, Platform Administrators can add source categories and source names in the Admin Panel. **Here, they can also make changes to sources as needed. Users with **contributor access can add sources that do not yet exist when adding a startup.

Examples of categories could be events, outreach, or word of mouth. They can also include specific source names. For example, a category might be "Event" and a specific source name might be "VivaTech" or "WebSummit." Sources appear on the partner page and look similar to tags.

 

Recommendations

Here are a few recommendations for using sources effectively:

• Think about the different ways in which your organization usually meets innovation partners. For example, do you typically meet partners at formal events, networking events, or by LinkedIn outreach?
• Use specific source names to track the specific events or outreach efforts that have been successful for your organization. This can help you identify patterns and trends in your innovation efforts.
• Consider using sources to track data by region or industry. This can be helpful for organizations with a global presence or those that operate in multiple industries.