Barriers to technology transfer and policies - Mike Wright

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Mike Wright, Imperial College Business School

© Imperial College Business School

Barriers to technology transfer and policies

Presentation at Bologna, February 2014

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• What barriers are there to technology transfer?

• How can the barriers to technology transfer be addressed?

• Focus on:– Universities– Spin-offs and academic entrepreneurs

• “10” barriers based on 15 year research programme

Barriers and overcoming them


Introduction

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• Universities: spin-offs have contextual issues related to:

• University ownership of IP• Time from research to market• Potentially conflicting objectives and

ambidextrous organizations– Revenue generation to meet budget

constraints– Lack of commercial orientation

• Differences between universities regionally

• Links to varying local industry networks

Need to understand dimensions of university context


Barrier 1

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• Disconnect between strategy, science base, – Quality and scope of research &

faculty base– Expertise of TTO– Culture of Departments and

academic tribes• Supportive of

commercialization?– Objectives, risks and returns

unclear/unrealistic/conflicting


Universities strategies for academic entrepreneurship not aligned

Barrier 2

Barrier 3Mismatched Support Models

for University Spin-Offs

RESOURCES

ACTIVITIES

Resource

deficie

nt 41.8%

Competence

deficie

nt 13.9%

Low selective 23.3%

Supportive 16.3%

Incubator 4.7%

Low High

Low

High

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• Traditional focus on hard science with patents by faculty or high growth ICT

• Alumni increasingly provide academic entrepreneurship:– Students, Drop-outs,

Graduates

• Financial & social ventures• Need to adapt TTO and

education approaches


Narrow focus of technology being transferred

Barrier 4

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• Academic start-up teams often lack skill & cognition diversity– Select who they know not what

need– Don’t build links with those they

need to help them

• Academic Entrepreneurs are doing it for the first time– But many academics are serial

entrepreneurs– can mentor colleagues– Better than support agencies– Especially for getting beyond start-

up© Imperial College Business School

Insufficient attention to entrepreneurs & teams

Barrier 5

• Spin-off directors need skills & contacts to help firms grow, cross critical junctures and survive– Sector experience, successful prior

entrepreneurial experience, ….

• Spin-offs with academics & TTO boards limited – Need contacts to identify required

skills


Insufficient attention to building boards

Barrier 6

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• Academics embedded in networks with other scientists for grants & publications– But embeddedness paradoxical– May not have networks with commercial actors

• Need to access these networks AND to know how to recruit the people who can give them that access

Insufficient attention to building networks


Barrier 7

© Imperial College Business School 11

Need to be able to transform networks in different ways

Existing weak ties Developed strong ties

Opportunity refinement competency

Resource acquisition competency

Championing competency

Use Use Use

Time Time Time

Existing strong ties New weak ties

Existing strong ties Existing weak ties ( e.g . from resource acquisition )

Barrier 7Need ability to transform networks in different ways for different purposes

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• Framing opportunities may especially be problem in university context as:– distance from market readiness– Uncertainty of new markets

• Poses challenges in how opportunities exploited

• Recognise critical junctures and how they are overcome….

Challenges of moving from opportunity to market


Barrier 8

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• Market for products vs market for technology– Formal IP based spin-offs may take many years to generate

product revenue– During this period value of technology may rise:

• License the technology, sell patents [technology market]• Sell or IPO the company [financial market]

– Value from expected future returns– Valuation uncertain and can be volatile

• Especially if regulatory hurdle not overcome

• Economic and social value

Lack of attention to where value lies


Barrier 9

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• Especially an issue with innovations generated from universities– Far from market– Long timescales: Biotech/health vs ICT

• Much funding focuses on the beginning of start-up– Grants, accelerator programs

• …..But start-up is a process• …many funding rounds before viability • Multiple finance gaps• Challenge to make investor-ready at a value acceptable

to the university and the VC

Limited filling of finance gap


Barrier 10

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• Direct academic entrepreneurship– Novel research to create innovations leading to spin-offs by academic

scientists and students– Support for heterogeneity of types– Flexible human, social and financial capital over the evolving spin-off

life-cycle process

• Indirect academic entrepreneurship– Education & research experience lead indirectly to entrepreneurial

graduate actions via Corporate Spin-offs & alumni start-ups

• Redesign TTO & courses to support student & alumn start-ups– Start-up “garages” for students and alumns– Cross-disciplinary student /faculty projects– Develop different types of industry reach-out/reach-in


Rethink Academic Entrepreneurship

Implications for Universities

Thank You!

Questions?