Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Con
tent
s ©
201
6, B
oost
phas
e LL
CCreative Faculty, Tech Transfer Offices, and
the I-Corps Experience
Stephen Fleming
[email protected]@stephenfleming
Boostphase
Download this file at <http://files.academicvc.com>
Changing your business
trajectory®
Boos
tpha
se ®
is a
reg
iste
red
trad
emar
k of
Boo
stph
ase
LLC
boostphase (büst´fāz), n., 1. The first phase of a spacecraft’s trajectory, from launch until it ceases to accelerate under its own power.
Usage: Small changes to the trajectory during boostphase will have major influences on the ultimate position and velocity of the spacecraft, determining success or failure of the mission.
About Me
20+ years venture capital investment experience. – General Partner, Alliance Technology Ventures
(affiliated with Georgia Research Alliance). – 18 investments as lead investor,
11 profitable exits incl. 4 IPOs, $650M acquisition BS, Physics, Georgia Tech (Highest Honors). 15 years operational experience at AT&T Bell Labs, Nortel, LICOM (venture-backed startup). – Supervised startups developing first ADSL modem and one of the first
cablemodems in early 1990s.
Joined Georgia Tech in 2005; Vice President of Enterprise Innovation Institute (200-person economic development and entrepreneurship organization). One of initial Prinicipal Investigators for NSF I-Corps.
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 2
Working with Professors
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 3
Working with Professors
Teaching a professor how to be an entrepreneur is like teaching a cat to swim: –It can be done. –You will lose blood. –You’ll never be satisfied with the results. –You will annoy the cat.
Different motivations, different priorities, different views of “proper procedure.”
Best bet: Recruit an entrepreneur to work with the professor. 1+1=3.
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 4
What is I-Corps?
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) –prepares scientists and engineers to extend their
focus beyond the laboratory, –identifies valuable product opportunities emerging
from academic research, and –offers entrepreneurship training by combining
• experience and guidance from established entrepreneurs
• through a targeted curriculum.
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 5
Model ≠ Plan
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 6
One of the key insights of I-Corps
Business Plans
“No plan ever survives its first contact with the enemy.” —Gen. Douglas MacArthur
“No business plan ever survives its first contact with the customer.”
—modern variant
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 7
Business Model Canvas
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 8
Business Model Canvas
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016
Adapted from Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur
9
Customer Discovery Process
The scientific method applies to business!
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 10
Make a hypothesis about an element of your business model canvas.
Testing Hypotheses
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 11
???
Testing Hypotheses
Develop a controlled experiment –Change only one variable at a time
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016
???
12
Now…
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016
Face
-to-Fac
e
Vide
ocon
fere
nce
Phon
e Ca
ll
Sur
vey
Effectiveness
13
Testing Hypotheses
Conduct that experiment against real-world customers of your product or service.
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 14
???
Don’t sell!
The Value of Experiments
“If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong… It doesn’t make any difference how beautiful your guess is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are who made the guess… If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong.”
—Richard Feynman
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 15
Congratulations! You have learned something.
Testing Hypotheses
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 16
???Fact!
Now, do it again.
The Big Secret...
Do this over 100 times.
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016
(Really.)
17
There Is No Substitute!
“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.”
—Mark Twain
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 18
“A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.” —Steve Blank
Now Repeat the Process
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016
? ?
Startup = Search Company = Execution
Discover Create Build
19
1/3 of the time. 5% of the money.
“Fail fast, fail often.”
? Validate
Evolution of a Model
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016
Fact
Fact
Fact
Fact
Fact
Fact
Fact
Fact
Fact
20
We Knew This Before...
“I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it.”
—Thomas Edison
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 21
We’re Not in the Valley
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 22
What Worked in the Valley?
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016
H-P’s iconic birthplace.23
Free markets Availability of capital Intellectual property protection Collaborative culture Flexible career paths Welcoming to outsiders & immigrants Meritocratic advancement Acceptance of failure as learning experience Continuous replenishment –Of bright young people –Of interesting new technologies
What Works?
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 24
The Role of Tech Transfer
Synergy 2016 – Manila9/21/2016 25
Boostphase
Download this file at <http://files.academicvc.com>
Con
tent
s ©
201
6, B
oost
phas
e LL
C
®
Boos
tpha
se ®
is a
reg
iste
red
trad
emar
k of
Boo
stph
ase
LLC
Stephen Fleming
+1 (404) 939-3536 [email protected]
www.boostphase.com
