• You are an entrepreneur when you
  • Pursue the idea of commercialising your research.
  • Do it yourself; be actively involved in the business rather than continue in a fairly safe academic position and letting someone else take the reins.
  • Have good attitude; express your entrepreneurial spirit
• Analyse the business aspects of your research, so that the research is following the requirements of the business rather than the other way round.
• Look at the product or service from the user perspective to make sure you’re not solving a problem that no-one has.
• N-E-T-W-O-R-K
• Find a business mentor with the right business experience with whom to comfortably discuss your ideas.  The tech transfer office is working for the university and is not firstly on the side of a researcher with a business idea.
• Find people who ask you the right (often uncomfortable) questions; and yet others who help find answers. This is the difference between knowing and doing – knowing about networking and team-building does not replace the advantage of actually having access to a network of successful entrepreneurs.
• Introduce yourself to an atmosphere of success and constructive criticism by listening to talks by successful start-ups and entrepreneurs.
• Whenever you meet with someone new, research them and ask many more targeted questions than you thought that you could.
• Educate and inspire yourself. It is comforting to see that others have struggled, and often failed at the outset, only to get up and go again.
• Network, and have the one on one sessions, with lawyers and entrepreneurs.
• You as the Brand Name
• How can you be noticed?  Similar to increasing one’s profile within a research organisation, when looking for business links, being an Enterprise fellow opens doors and adds clout to your project.
• Take part in business plan competitions that take place at different universities, or the ” Biotech YES – Young Entrepreneurs Scheme”.
• What to do about Funding – What impact does it have on Research
• Focusing on the commercial aspects of your research is unlikely to result in the publications that are necessary to build and maintain a successful academic career. Even if it does not actively hinder, it distracts you and if you want to return to academia you will have a time lag in publishing.
• Many academics have taken the risky steps into the commercial world without funding.
• What do you want funding for?  Is your mission to fund your research?  That will not work.  It is possible to make money and fund others’ research.
• Skills
• The long section under N-E-T-W-O-R-K shows us that business start up requires many soft skills.
• Hard skills are needed – how to quantify and sort through ideas and approaches, analyse cash-flow, understand accountants and VC’s.  Feeling confident.

This article paraphrases Dr Peter Köllensperger of Imperial College London, and I thank him for that.  He currently holds an Engineering Enterprise Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering.