The journey of a University idea

It is important to be clear about exactly what problem you are trying to solve, and who would use it. Who cares about this problem? Can you describe the benefits of your solution, and summarise what you are offering in a short benefit statement?

After you have written (or updated) your benefit statement, these bullet points may help you to think about your opportunity in more detail:

Describe the problem and your solution:

• Describe the problem(s) solved, customers, applications, and user benefits
• Novel features of your solution: what does it do, unique selling point
• Does your solution save cost, time or resources
• Is your solution an incremental improvement or a major breakthrough
• Status of your solution: idea, proof of concept, prototype, ready to use (for example, a research tool), confidential or disclosed/published

Market – is the problem you are solving commercially valuable and reachable?

• Size of market (total/addressable), trends
• Barriers to entry: scalability, industry regulatory requirements, freedom to operate (patents), competitor monopoly
• Route to market: potential licensees, investors, business planning

Intellectual Property considerations:

• Intellectual property available/required, type (patent/invention, software, copyright, material, data, design, trademark, trade secret)
• Creators/inventors and third party rights (funding obligations, joint owners, other stakeholders such as the NHS)
• In-licensing: other intellectual property required?

Find out more about evaluating and protecting your idea

• The important difference between features and benefits
• How do you know if you have a good idea for a business? (from bplans.com)
• A five minute video about intellectual property (from Durham University)
• Advice on prior art searching (from the EPO)
• Patent application and publication timeline
• Inventorship and ownership of inventions (from Mewburn Ellis).

Understanding the competition is key. Can you summarise the advantages of your solution over the competing solutions in your benefit statement?

• What are the competing solutions to your problem?
• Why is your solution better than theirs? (for example, how does the performance of your solution compare to the competition)
• What companies are providing these solutions, and where are they located? Can you describe their activities, size, customers, market, strengths and weaknesses?

Find out more about evaluating your competition and markets

• Attend workshop ‘Putting your research into context’(held termly at the Maxwell Centre)
• How to evaluate competition (from BDC bank, Canada)
• How to turn your idea into a product (from Business News Daily).

Customers are critical. Who will yours be, and have you started talking to them? Are you solving a problem that is important to your potential customers?

These activities may help you to assess customer feedback and build relationships with potential commercial partners.

• Customer/commercial feedback on current solution (for example, non-confidential chats, performance testing, customer trials)
• Consider engaging with student teams such as i-Teams and EnterpriseTECH to obtain commercial feedback
• Define customer requirements
• Build relationship with potential customers, licensees, investors (for example, confidential discussions, performance testing, customer trials under consultancy or collaboration agreements)

You’ve identified why your solution can change the world. What do you need to do now to start making that a reality? Here are some ideas:

• Performance/applications data
• Prototype development, scale-up of process, develop new applications
• Proof of concept and translational funding. We have access to small amounts of proof of concept funding, and can help you secure translational funding from other organisations by providing letters of support and reviewing applications
• Industry testing, contract research organisations
• Brand/trademark development.

Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. What skills and resources do you need in your team to get your solution to market? What are your next steps to answer the key uncertainties?

• Agree commercialisation strategy and next steps: licensing, spin-out, social venture, project management, business planning
• People and team: aspirations, who leads, availability, missing skills
• Resources: proof of concept funding, translational funding, seed investment. We may be able to provide small amounts of proof of concept funding, and seed funding to help you start your spin-out. We can also help you secure translational funding from other organisations by providing letters of support, and reviewing applications
• External support/partners: contract research organisations, mentors, expertise, skills, potential licensees, potential customers
• Risk assessment and mitigation strategies.

Licensing and seed funding is where we can add significant value (view our performance highlights). Have you spoken to our Technology and Knowledge Transfer or Seed Funds teams about how we can help?

• Our long term goal is to license your solution either to an external organisation or to your spin-out
• We will manage the commercial relationship and negotiation of an agreement that gives the licensee the right to commercialise your solution
• Throughout the term of any agreed licence we aim to ensure your solution is being developed and commercialised by the licensee
• We will share any licensing revenue with you and your Department according to the University IP policy
• If you want to form a spin-out company, Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds may also help you build your business plan and team, and may invest in your spin-out

Congratulations! You have completed a commercial agreement with a company (either an existing company, or your own spin-out) that wants to develop your solution into a commercial product. But don’t forget:

• A commercial deal is not the end of the commercial journey; a company has to work on product development in order to make a product ready to sell to customers. Activities may include: customer pilot trials, beta-testing, production/application trials, clinical trials, manufacturing scale-up, regulatory approval testing
• Depending on the type of product, market roll-out may take anything from months (for example, software, research tools), to 10+ years (for example, drug development)
• Collaborative development work between the company and University researchers can be valuable, by helping you to transfer your solution to the company (for example, through consultancy, or research collaboration projects)