Bringing ideas and initial proof-of-concepts out of research and academic settings is a brilliant way to create a positive impact in the world. However, the process is not straightforward and requires planning to scale the company and also validate the technology with the market. Mistakes when spinning out a company can be extremely costly down the road and affect the likelihood of raising subsequent investment rounds.
HATCH has been conducting business innovation programmes since 2018 and has worked with over 150+ founders. Learning basic entrepreneurial skills in a short period of time while supported by a strong community can help challenge and develop the initial product and business model.
In this session, we will showcase how university researchers should think about the ownership of their IP and whether the institution will have an equity position in your company. Then such researchers should consider the amount of finance needed to take the company to the next stage of development; decide on the best R&D and startup growth strategies, team building and decide whether raising private investment is sufficient in the near future.
In certain countries such as Indonesia and Norway, the cluster approach towards developing new commercial ideas has also gained traction. Work environments such as clusters reduce many barriers between entrepreneurs and the rest of the industry and help to facilitate discussions across multiple stakeholder groups. Many startups thus emerge with a clearer roadmap in terms of their development.