How you can help
Connect your inventors with potential commercialization partners.
This allows your investor to understand what a licensee sees as critical development needs. These conversations can help inventors think about “must-haves” versus “nice to haves” from a partner’s perspective. Maybe the inventors don’t need as much additional research funding as they think to position their technology for licensing and/or transfer to the real world.
Encourage your inventors to drive to a working prototype as quickly as possible.
The prototype doesn’t have to be perfect, just properly validated. The goal is to demonstrate to potential licensees and/or end-users that the technology really works.
Give your inventors confidence that their ideas are protected.
Communicate tools/processes that your organization uses to protect its intellectual property (e.g., patent filings, non-disclosing agreements with commercialization partners, copyrights, etc.). Educate your inventors on how to communicate the value proposition of their technology while not disclosing proprietary information.
Connect your inventors with colleagues in the organization who have gone through the commercialization process. These conversations will allay fears that “their baby” will be stolen.
Explain first-to-market business concepts with your inventors.
Explain how they could get “leap-frogged” by competing technologies under development. If possible, show your inventors examples of emerging technologies that could create competition for them. You might also show your inventors market-opportunity data that reinforces the concept that their invention likely has a shelf life.
With over 50 years of experience working with organizations that fund and develop new technologies, we know the signs of impending “technocides” and how to address them. Contact us when you need to assess, design, and/or implement an in-reach program for your inventors.