Course Description
Due to lack of awareness on the expected behavioural and business domain knowledge as a spinout founder (in the context of a University environment), Academic Spinout Founders often struggle with transitioning their role from being an academic staff (with the responsibility to continue ‘ongoing teaching and research works within the University’) to being a company founder running the spinout operations in the early days of company formation, after having gone through the ‘complicated procedures of getting a spinout company proposal approved by the employer University’.
Similarly, Student Startup Founders often find uneasy to transition from being an independent researcher on a complex technology development project to being a startup founder (due to lack of support guidance that can help in quick transformation of a R&D project to a market-acceptable product) and how to prepare themselves and their startup idea (on the usual Founder/Startup checklist adopted by early investors and incubator/accelerator programme operators to approve/support a startup)’.
This course intends to provide an overview of ‘a list of tasks (with tips on how to complete them)’ needed by an academic or an independent researcher/student for supporting self-transition from their current roles inside a University or research project to being a spinout/startup founder.
What You’ll Learn From This Course
- Walking through a spinout/startup journey to realise responsibilities – Basics
- Working on the needs of a spinout/startup conception – Intermediate
- Preparing tasks of company formation and surviving early years’ operation – Advance
Certification
All attendees will be provided an acknowledgement certificate (PDF copy) of having completed the training course.
Duration
1 day [9:00-11:30, 12:00-14:30, 15:00-17:30]
Curriculum
- 3 Sections
- 18 Lessons
- 1 Days
- Walking through a spinout/startup journey to realise responsibilities – Basics6
- 1.1University’s Spinout approval process – IP Policy, Spinout Policy, HEBCIS/KEF relevance
- 1.2Investor’s expectations on a university spinout or a startup – Investable founder/spinout
- 1.3Protecting personal interests of being academic or founder – Making Self transitions
- 1.4Moving commercialisation/research project into a spinout/startup – Project examples
- 1.5Accessing freely available resources on spinout/startup – Online and at university
- 1.6Making sense of Commercialisation – IP protection, market awareness, technology/product development
- Working on the needs of a spinout/startup conception – Intermediate6
- 2.1Technology Development to Product Development – Productisation plan
- 2.2IP package protection & IP right management – IP Cost-benefit analysis
- 2.3Identifying Customer Values of target markets – Product-Solution Matching map
- 2.4Evaluating resource requirements of transition – ‘Research to Commercial’ proposition
- 2.5Attending essential trainings of being a Founder – Basic company operation, Directorship
- 2.6Receiving customer’s voice to test idea viability – Market exploration, Investor interaction
- Preparing tasks of company formation and surviving early years’ operation – Advanced6
- 3.1Preparing draft business plan, finances, pitch-deck – Product Sales and Corporate Model
- 3.2Identifying target investors and business advisors (incl. team members) – Founding team
- 3.3Preparing negotiation points to deal with investor or University – Deal Terms at formation
- 3.4Applying to startup support programmes with seed funding – Access startup fund
- 3.5Initiating engagement with potential customers and investors – Presales, Support letters
- 3.6Reading through draft Spinout company agreement templates – Solicitor consultation
Lessons:
