One of our goals in starting Innovocracy is to see successful projects develop into revenue-generating businesses that benefit both the inventors and the institutions that helped them innovate. While it is much too early in our evolution to see how this will unfold, considering your options should the opportunity arise is important. We hope to provide support for this next stage in energizing innovation in higher ed.

Company Vs. License

There are basically two scenarios for successful commercialization of your product or targeted research. Start a company or license the IP to someone else. Even early in the process, having an idea which you prefer can change the way you do things. If you are developing for a complex industry with large markets like pharma and most medical devices you are probably looking at licensing because of extensive capital requirements and long time frames to get to market. It takes deep pockets and infrastructure very different than a start-up to support these kinds of products.

If you serve a niche market that can be profitable or you have a product like software that can be developed and distributed with lightweight resources, then you might consider a start-up. Affordable scalability and an easily reachable market are the criteria in this example. It costs a lot of money and time to reach a big market. A niche is much easier to bootstrap on a marketing level. Scalability at the early stage really means digital. If you’re designing chips that require fabs, that’s not scalable for a start-up. License. An app? Scale to the moon for practically nothing, if you can reach a receptive market.

The Power of Traction

Fortunately, if you have successfully funded via Innovocracy you have proven, in a small way, that there may be a market that you can reach with limited resources. And you have begun to acquire ‘traction’, that all important indicator that there is an interested market. This, in turn, can help you raise capital to start a business.

On the licensing side, multiple patents and other IP help with traction. If you used your Innovocracy funding to do a proof of concept, then you may be headed for a license. Use your funding story to flush out possible partners.

Ask Yourself: Am I A Manager?

Finally, ask yourself if you really want to manage a company? It’s very different than working in a lab. If the answer is yes, you probably need an operationally-inclined business partner. If not, work with your tech transfer people to find a licensing partner.