3. Over the years, NUS has generated a significant
number of technological inventions.
As of end of 2011,
NUS has been granted 279 patents
by the US Patent Office
4. • The key challenge is to generate something valuable
from these inventions
- R&D: Turn Money into Knowledge
- Commercialization: Turn Knowledge into Money
5. • How can an invention be commercialized?
- License it? To Whom?
- Build a Product/Service? For Whom?
- Start a company to do it? To Do What?
6. A Technology Commercialization Plan is just a set of
hypotheses about how an invention can be turned into
end products/services that some customers will pay for
“Before we build a better mousetrap, we need to find out if
there is any mice out there.”
- Yogi Berra
7. THE IDEA OF “LEAN”
• Search/Generate Hypotheses about how you can
make money
• Test/Validate your Hypotheses, Fail Fast, Fail Early,
Pivot, Before You Commit Big $$
9. THE LEAN LAUNCHPAD
• Adopted by National Science Foundation since 2011.
• Taught at Stanford University, Georgia Tech, University of
Michigan, Berkeley, Columbia, NYU, Caltech, etc.
• Recently partnered with National Collegiate Inventors
and Innovators Association.
• Early evidence of success in SBIR Phase 1 funding –
approval rates
• 18% of teams who did not take the class
• 60% of teams who did take the class
10. THE LEAN LAUNCHPAD
Lean LaunchPad Pedagogy
• Hands-on experiential learning
• Flipped classroom
• Design Business Model
• Customer Discovery
• Agile Engineering
11. The LLP is Based On
• Business Model Generation
• The Lean Startup
• The Startup Owners Manual
26. PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR (PI)
Characteristics
• Tenured Professor/Senior Researcher
• Has a strong portfolio of technologies or a new invention that he/she is
keen to see commercialized
• May have patented their inventions, some may have secured POC grants
or may even have started their companies
Role
• Creator of the science / technology or research that is within striking
distance to product or process demonstration.
• Technical lead & visionary
• Commitment to participate in Initial Bootcamp and Final Presentation,
plus time availability for some of the weekly consultation sessions
27. ENTREPRENEURIAL LEAD
Characteristics
• Post-doc or graduate student
• Relevant knowledge of the technology and a deep commitment to
investigate the commercial landscape surrounding the innovation
• May be complemented by another student with entrepreneurial or
business training (e.g. MBA)
Role
• Selected by the PI to support the transition of the technology, to
leave the academic institution
• Expected to participate fully in the program, including the field
interviews and weekly sessions
28. MENTOR
Characteristics
• An experienced business person with relevant domain expertise in
the potential areas of application of the technology
• May be an experienced entrepreneur, investor or executive who
have worked on transiting technology out of academic lab
Role
• Provide insight from business and industry
• The Mentor is expected to participate in most of the initial
bootcamp to guide the team forward and to provide advice and
inputs through the weekly sessions and to track their progress and
have regular communication with the LLP@SG program
director/faculty
29. TEAM SELECTION CRITIREA
• Priority for teams involving NUS PIs or start-up
founders
• “Readiness” of Technology for
Commercialization
• Interest & Commitments of PI
• Composition of Team Members already in
place
• For non-NUS related teams, potential for
collaboration with NUS
30. READING MATERIALS
• Business Model Generation: A Handbook for
Visionaries, Game Changers and Challengers
(Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, 2010)
• The Startup Owner’s Manual, The Step-byStep Guide for Building a Great Company
(Steve Blank and Bob Dorf, 2012)
31. KEY LEARNING ACTIVITIES
• Intensive 2-day Initial Bootcamp (April 7 & 8) with
Face-to-Face Lectures and Group Work
• Weekly Field Interviews (10 per week) and
documentation of findings on online platform
Launchpad Central
• Weekly Watching of Online Video Lectures (2-3 hours)
• Weekly Feedback Session & Group Work (2-3 hours)
• Regular Consultation with Mentors & Program Faculty
• Final intensive presentation & feedback sessions
(June 9)
32. SCHEDULE
Week No.
Date
Topic
1
7-8 April 2014
1
10 April 2014
2
17 April 2014
Business Model Canvas, Customer Segment,
Product Offering & Value Proposition;
Customer Relationships Get/Keep/Grow &
Channels ; Interview techniques
Revenue Models
3
24 April 2014
Key Activities & Key Resources
4
30 April 2014
Partnerships
5
8 May 2014
Cost & Financing Requirements
6
15 May 2014
Putting It Altogether
7
22 May 2014
Preparation of Plan
8
29 May 2014
9
5 June 2014
10
9 June 2014
Presentation Skills Training; Preparation for
Final Presentation
“Lessons Learned” Presentation & video Trial
Preparation & Feedback
Final Presentations & Feedback
