The TopCoder Global PlatformPlatform overview

[ ] Overview – Introduction

Technology Area: TopCoder has a new model for crowdsourcing software development where

members of a global community compete against each other to complete client projects.

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· TopCoder connects its corporate clients to the world’s top technical talent by hosting online competitions

where the output ranges from logos and banner ads, to web widgets and prototypes, to components of very

large, complex systems.

∙ Community: 220,000 members from 200+ countries

∙ Model leads to 30-60% cost savings over in-house or traditional outsourcing, with improved quality and speed

[ ] Overview – Proposed Relationship

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∙ Your stakeholders maintain control of projects and interact directly with community using TopCoder platform

tools

∙ On-demand access to highly-skilled resources

∙ Global human cloud drives innovation and speeds time-to-market

∙ Rigorous process results in quality improvements

∙ Efficiencies reduce costs

∙ Resource redundancy increases project reliability

Proposed Relationship – Client Virtual Development Center

·A development center within your organization through which projects are completed by the TopCoder community

·Allows your firm to leverage the TopCoder community as an on-demand delivery back-end for your projects

[ ] Overview – TopCoder Inc.

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TopCoder Inc.

∙ Incorporated 2001 – Privately Funded

∙ 2008 Revenue: ~$20 Million

∙ HQ’s: Glastonbury, CT

∙ Full Time Employees: 60

∙ Community: ~225,000 members from 200+ countries

∙ Senior Executives:

∙ Jack Hughes, Chairman and Founder

∙ Robert Hughes. President and COO

∙ Dave Tanacea, President TopCoder Software

∙ Pete Bourdon, CFO

∙ Ira Heffan, General Counsel

∙ Dave Messinger, Chief Architect

∙ Michael Morris, SVP TopCoder Software

∙ Brian Wyatt, VP TopCoder Business Development

∙Regions Served: N. America, EMEA, Asia/Pacific

[ ] TopCoder Inc. – Introduction

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1. Company Vision

2. Value Proposition

3. Positioning

4. Sample Output & Technologies

[ ] TopCoder Inc. – Vision

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Company Vision: Change the way software gets built.

Key Differentiation

∙ Competitive model: Multiple resources competing on the same deliverable increases reliability

∙ Asset-based methodology: Only pay for high-quality deliverables, not unproductive hours

∙ Model and community scales:

∙ Very large bench with little to no carrying cost

∙ Running multiple competitions in parallel speeds time-to-market

∙ Software reuse is a core competency

∙ Intrinsic geographic diversification

∙ Competition pricing is a true market for global talent

[ ] TopCoder Inc. – Value Proposition

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Our Value Proposition To You

∙ Cost of developing high-quality software through the TopCoder platform is significantly lower than traditional

outsourcing or in-house models. 30-60% lower.

∙ Virtually no up-front cost to engage with the TopCoder community

∙ Highly leveraged - overhead limited to program and project management

∙ Model incentivizes software reuse – on average, 40% of the code of a TopCoder-built application is pre-existing code

∙ Higher quality leads to much lower ongoing maintenance costs

∙ Dynamically and instantly tap into global talent trends

∙ ROI is immediate and meaningful

[ ] TopCoder – Positioning

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Target Market Segments

∙ TopCoder takes a cross-vertical approach to the market for software development

∙ Industries served include:

∙ Technology

∙ Financial Services

∙ Gaming

∙ Retail

Competitive Landscape

∙ Key competition:

∙ Other outsource application development providers

∙ In-house development teams

∙ Telecom

∙ Health and Life Sciences

∙ Manufacturing

[ ] TopCoder Inc. – Sample Output

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Application Development: Quickly build large and small applications by leveraging the TopCoder community and the largest catalog or reusable software components

Creative Marketing & Social Media: Have the community compete to create logos, websites, brochures, banner ads, GUI’s, FLASH demos, prototypes – the possibilities are endless

Idea Generation & Problem Solving: Tap the creative or analytical minds of the TopCoder Community to drive your next innovation or solve the complex problems

Research and Development: Tap into an online community to concept, design and create your next product

Projects Categories

[ ] The Platform - Introduction

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∙ TopCoder Developer Community

∙ TopCoder’s Competition-based Methodology

∙ TopCoder Studio

∙ Geographic Distribution: Sample Application

∙ Competition Types

∙ Innovation Engine

∙ Component Catalog

∙ Quality Through Competition

∙ Contest Management

∙ Quality Assurance

∙ Contest Management

∙ Market Pricing

∙ Trends: Competition Timelines

[ ] The Platform – Community

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TopCoder Virtual Workforce Stats

∙ Member count: ~ 225,000

∙ Rated Members: ~35,000

∙ Geographic Distribution: 200+ Countries

∙ Extensive metrics on all competitors

∙ Rating (skill level, reliability, earnings, etc)

∙ See demographics report for more information

[ ] The Platform – TopCoder Methodology

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TopCoder Competition-Based Methodology

∙ Developed to identify and reward the best developers in the world

∙ Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) has been broken down into a series of online competitions (see below)

∙ Also includes strong competency in algorithmic problem-solving and graphic design (TopCoder Studio)

∙ Subscription includes license to TopCoder’s extensive catalog of reusable software components

∙ Competitions requires and rewards key value-drivers: quality, software reuse, clarity of documentation, testing

∙ Managed like a virtual software factory with scalable/on-demand capacity

[ ] The Platform – TopCoder Studio

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TopCoder Studio – Graphic Design Competitions

∙ Studio challenges top creative talent from around the world to present

their best concepts to clients searching for new design solutions

∙ Competitors submit on a variety of competitions & client selects winners

∙ Mini-tournaments allow for client feedback and iteration

∙ Creative solution to drive conceptualization & requirements gathering

[ ] The Platform – Sample Application

Winning Contributors to a Sample Application: TopCoder Is True Global Collaboration.

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[ ] The Platform – Competition Types

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Software Competition Categories

∙ Algorithm

∙ Marathon Match

∙ Conceptualization

∙ Specification

∙ Architecture

∙ Software Component Design

∙ Software Component Development

∙ Application Assembly

∙ Testing

∙ Bug Races

Studio Competitions Categories

∙ Logo

∙ Banner Ads

∙ Wireframes

∙ Storyboards

∙ Prototypes

∙ Flash Games/Animation

∙ Presentations (i.e. PowerPoint)

∙ Print Design (Programs, stationary, T-Shirts etc)

[ ] The Platform –Innovation Engine

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Sensations Developer Challenge

Ribbit Killer App Challenge

ESPN Winning Formula

Truveo Developer Challenge

Open AIM Developer Challenge

[ ] The Platform – Component Catalog

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TopCoder’s Catalog of Reusable Software Components

∙ 1,400 reusable software components created over the past 5 years through component competitions

∙ Developed using standard Java, .Net, C++ technologies

∙ 40% of an average TopCoder-built Java or .Net application preexists in the TC catalog

∙ Includes full access to source code, test code and documentation

∙ 82% - 5-year growth rate of catalog (# of components has doubled every ~14 months)

∙ 3:1 – Average ratio of test code to source code

∙ Competitions demand/reward key value drivers: quality, software reuse, clarity of documentation, testing

[ ] The Platform - Quality Through Competition

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Quality control is built into the TopCoder Methodology

∙ All software competitions are evaluated by 3 independent members of the TopCoder Peer Review Board

∙ Standardized documentation is a competition requirement – submission scores

cover formatting, language, etc.

∙ 3:1 – Average ratio of test lines of code to source lines of code

∙ < 1- Average defects per 1000 lines of code

∙ Competitions demand/reward key value drivers: quality, software reuse, clarity of

documentation, testing

[ ] The Platform - Contest Management

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Contest Type (Software Design)

Technology

(JAVA)

Contest Name

Timeline

Submission ID’s &

Competitors (w/link to their profile)

3 Independent Reviewers

Links to Scorecard

(see next slide)

Appeals Process

Alerts

Contest Phases

[ ] The Platform – QA Scorecard

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[ ] The Platform – Market Pricing

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[ ] The Platform – Timeline Trends

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[ ] Who is TopCoder?

© Copyright 2008, TopCoder, Inc.23

[ ] As Seen In…

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If you want to appreciate the competitive underpinnings of open-source collaboration, pay a virtual visit to TopCoder, Inc., a for-profit, all-business twist on Linux, Apache and other grassroots approaches to creating high-performance software. Founder Jack Hughes describes TopCoder as “open source meets capitalism” – and the moment you see his business model in action, you understand what he means. This is, indeed, a geek’s paradise.

-Taylor, William and Polly Labarre. Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. Page 78

Hughes and company could have been following the crowdsourcing playbook, except of course that no such thing existed.

-Howe, Jeff. Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future of Business. New York: Crown Business, 2008

[ ] As Seen In…

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