Keaton Swett is the CEO and co-founder of the open innovation platform MindSumo and vice president of product at MBO Partners. In this episode, the State of Independence podcast focuses on Keaton's last decade of experience building and growing MindSumo, MBO’s acquisition of the open innovation platform, and what it means for expanding the reach of crowdsourcing to both enterprise organizations and independent businesses of one.

Keaton talks about the typical Bay Area startup story that launched MindSumo, and how he and his team grew the platform to include massive pool of Millenial and Gen Z talent and some of the world’s biggest brands. He talks about the value the platform has provided to companies beyond idea generation and into talent acquisition, as well as the benefits to talented thinkers all over the world who have connected with those enterprises. He also talks about the next phase of MindSumo’s evolution within MBO, providing leverage to the strong independent talent network within MBO’s platform to help create more value for the enterprise clients they serve.

About This Episode’s Guest

Keaton Swett is the CEO and co-founder of the open innovation platform MindSumo. Upon the company’s acquisition by MBO Partners in 2020, Keaton retained those roles and became MBO’s vice president of product. Keaton graduated from Johns Hopkins University, where he studied business and history. He previously worked in Oracle Corporation's analyst relations and PR divisions.

About MBO Partners®

MBO Partners is a deep jobs platform that connects and enables independent professionals and microbusiness owners to do business safely and effectively with enterprise organizations. Its unmatched experience and industry leadership enable it to operate on the forefront of the independent economy and consistently advance the next way of working. For more information, visit mbopartners.com.

Episode hosted by Aassia Haq; produced, edited, and engineered by Leslie Jennings Rowley. With music by Brian Burrows