Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Borman & Company’s Innovata, our bi-monthly newsletter addressing management of Technology Licensing and Innovation. In this edition we address new techniques to discern innovation trends, how to tell the story of innovation in a way that powerfully connects with your audience, and ways to become more effective in negotiations as well as sponsor reporting. We also address the value of failure in discovery and entrepreneurial ventures.
The complexities of managing and commercializing early stage technology are daunting and require insight, prediction, and solid management approaches. We hope you enjoy this edition.
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Failing with Confidence
The fear of failure, particularly in the current economic environment, surrounds us. Mindful of the costs to our reputations, families, and businesses, emphasis has been placed upon success, showcasing the perfect, and delivery of the perfect, to the detriment of the real. If we dig just a little deeper, we find that the aversion to failure has, in some circumstances, hobbled our ability to build upon lessons learned. It also sets up an environment of perpetual disappointment, discouragement, and second guessing and is a real obstacle to creating and nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs, particularly if we are to move beyond that small percentage of individuals who are “hard wired” for it. This spells certain trouble for our future.
A few years ago, as I attended a conference presented by PureTech Ventures, and was astounded by remarks of a serial entrepreneur. He asserted in a rock-solid voice when asked how he dealt with failures at his company that he did not fear failure, and that each time he failed he did so with confidence. He went on to explain to a nervous crowd that had been dancing around the topic with timid suggestions on processes to control against failure, that he learned more from his failures than he ever did from his successes. Further he maintained that glossing over failures deprived organizations of an important balancing mechanism in their headlong dash to success.
Last Updated on Thursday, 23 December 2010 18:04.
University Tech Transfer: Identifying Market Pull via Innovation Trend Analysis
Marketing of early stage technologies developed in university technology transfer offices (TTO) can be more than a little problematic. Many technology marketing efforts fail to produce deals because the due diligence required to truly identify market pull within a specific technology area is not performed, or if performed, is done in a cursory manner which fails to produce unique information. Bottom line – no advantage is gained and no insights are developed by the TTO in analyzing the appropriate technology space. The result is insufficient information which prevents the TTO from effective promotion of early stage technology to industry participants who might have a real interest in, and need for, the technology. Yes, in these situations use of a rifle is better than use of a shotgun.
Analysis of innovation trends, generically known as patent analysis or technology landscape analysis among other euphemisms, can provide unique, actionable information on potential licensees, what technologies they are developing, what is their technological approach, and how that technology might benefit from an early stage technology developed by a university TTO. De minimis, it provides the basis for superior promotional content to
Last Updated on Thursday, 23 December 2010 18:05.
Outside Counsel on the Technology Transfer Team: Value Added and Time Saved
Technology Transfer Offices and General Counsel Offices often overestimate the cost of Outside Counsel and underestimate the added value Outside Counsel bring to technology transfer deals.
Imagine the following scenario:
Licensee approaches a Technology Transfer Office (TTO) to request expanding its currently licensed rights to an issued patent. Licensee’s current license is exclusive in a limited field of use, and Licensee desires an exclusive license in all fields of use. The current agreement has been in place five years and requires Licensee to pay a small annual license fee, creditable against royalties of 2% of sales of the patented product. Licensee has yet to bring a product to market. Patent costs are fully paid, and the patent is set to expire in four years. TTO has collected a mere $5,000 over the life of the license.
Licensee stands to receive substantial venture capital funding on signing of the amended agreement and expansion of the licensed rights.
After a period of weeks negotiating, TTO and Licensee agree on:
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Last Updated on Thursday, 23 December 2010 18:05.
Telling the New Tech Transfer Story: It’s All about the Local Economy
When we started our communications business way back in 2005, we had a simple premise: research universities engaging in the tech transfer enterprise were expert in many areas but not usually in telling their own story. So we launched a company that would explain the relevance of emerging research and put a human face on this thing called tech transfer. We would not write about research, but rather we would write about the “so what” of the science…how it benefits society and help drive the new economy.
Last Updated on Thursday, 23 December 2010 18:05.
