University of Cambridge
Develop a commercial idea

How to make your idea thrive

You have come up with an exciting commercial idea – but what do you do next?

This section is designed to give you an overview of the commercial journey of a University idea, and the possible activities at each stage of that journey. Whatever path you take, we can support you throughout your journey.

Overview of the journey of a University idea

Steps for building an attractive commercial opportunity

Start with the premise for your idea, and work your way through this steps to learn more about the commercial process.

Each commercial journey is individual and may involve some or all of these steps over weeks or years, or may follow an entirely different journey. Often, steps will need to be repeated many times before you have enough information to convince a commercial partner to lead the development of your idea.

1) What is the problem that you can solve?

2) What are the competitor solutions to the problem?

3) Market feedback and relationship building

4) Develop the idea, solution or product

5) Team strategy and planning

6) Commercial agreement and seed investment

7) Product development and market roll out

Creating your benefit statement

Having a clear statement describing why your idea has value is an essential first step on the way to attracting commercial interest. Such a statement is often known as a ‘benefit statement’ or ‘value proposition’. Initially your statement may be based more on gut instinct than real evidence. Over time, as you gain more information and refine your idea, it may become a credible and attractive commercial opportunity.

Template benefit statement

We can help [customer group X] do [customer need Y] by providing [solution Z]. Unlike [competitor solutions], our idea is preferred because [advantage] as demonstrated by [evidence].

Examples of benefit statements

  • We can help battery manufacturers make better batteries for electric cars by providing a kryptonite battery. Unlike a standard lithium ion battery, our kryptonite battery is preferred because it stores more energy and has a longer lifetime, as demonstrated in standard industry tests carried out by third parties.
  • We can help primary school teachers teach children to speak a new language more effectively by using our novel teaching method and supporting teaching materials. Our method is preferred because children are more engaged in the lessons and learn to speak the new language more quickly than with traditional teaching methods, as demonstrated by studies carried out by education experts.
  • We can help medical device manufacturers to support diabetic patients, by providing a wearable device that continuously monitors blood sugar levels and delivers the required amounts of insulin. Unlike the standard blood drop test, clinical trials have shown that our wearable device allows the optimum control of insulin and sugar levels to maintain patient health.

Looking for inspiration?

Be inspired by learning about the commercial journeys taken by researchers from the University of Cambridge.

Watch Jeremy Baumberg, Bart Hallmark and Chris Rider speak about their experiences at a commercialisation workshop in October 2016, Carlos Ludlow-Palafox of Enval talking to an audience of postdocs, February 2017, and Marc Rodriguez of Xampla talking at The Chris Abell Postdoc Business Plan Competition, May 2021.

Past events & available resources

Media Content Production and Commercialisation Training Series

Social Business Models

Data and Commercialisation

Online Workshop: Creating Great Content

Legal Aspects of Social Venture

Online Workshop: Navigating the Film Industry

Podcasting Panel