Podcast appearances and mentions of errol arkilic

A conversation with Eleonora Vella about getting the right people in the room, finding research on the cusp of commercializability, and generally how TandemLaunch’s unique system works. Eleonora is a Program director at TandemLaunch. Tandemlaunch is a startup foundry that builds companies from scratch around university research. This is not an easy task - check out Episode 15 with Errol Arkilic, Episode 19 with Mark Hammond, or Episode 21 with Eli Velazquez if you need convincing. Given the challenges, TandemLaunch’s successes suggest there’s a lot to learn from their processes. Key Takeaways - An under appreciated reason that commercialization is tricky because it involves a transfer from one skillsets to another - The timescales of business and patents seems to have become decoupled   Links TandemLaunch Homepage

In this episode I talk to Eli Velasquez about creating startup ecosystems, commercializing research, especially when it's not necessarily venture-backable, and how the US government thinks about startups. Eli is the head of Venture Development at VentureWell - a non profit organization that funds and trains faculty and student innovators to create businesses. VentureWell helps run I-corps, which talked to Errol Arkilic about in Episode 15. Currently, Eli runs all over the world helping create fertile ground of startup ecosystems and in the past he's worked with intellectual property both in industry at Boeing and Academia at Texas Tech. Basically he's working on meta-meta innovation: creating new ways to make places where it's easier for people to create new things. Major Takeaways Too much government aid can turn companies into zombies because their customer becomes the grant-giver instead of money-paying customers. At the end of the day ecosystems happen because people's mindsets change On average bringing a technology to market on average takes more than five years.   Resources Venturewell  

In this episode I talk to Errol Arkilic about different systems involved in turning research into companies. Errol has been helping research make the jump from the lab to the market for more than fifteen years: he was a program manager at the National Science Foundation or NSF, Small Business Innovation Research or SBIR program, where he awarded grants to hundreds of companies commercializing research. He started the NSF Innovation Corps, a program that gives researchers the tools they need to make the transition to running a successful business. Currently he is a partner at M34 capital where he focuses exclusively on projects that are being spun out of labs. Seeing the often rocky tech transition from so many sides has given him a nuanced view of the whole system. Key Takeaways While there are some best practices around commercializing research, like business model canvases, many pieces like assembling a team and finding complementary technologies are still completely bespoke. The commercial value of research is a tricky thing. Some is valuable, but not quite valuable enough to form an organization around. Other research could be incredibly valuable if the world were in a slightly different state. Different approaches are needed in each situation. The mental model of MIST vs TIMS - market in search of technology and technology in search of market. Links M34 Capital The SBIR Program Business Model Canvases Errol on How the NSF Works Pasteur's Quadrant NSF Innovation Corps Topics What is the pathway to commercialization How do you have an iterative process when people don't know what they want What do the best researchers do to pull out core problems to work on? How do you address the tension of people wanting to apply their hammers? What are examples of people who have applied very specific technologies? How do you assemble a team around a technology? How do you systemitize assembling teams? How do you systemitize finding technologies that can plug a technological hole? What do you think about patents? Patents, trade screts, Technology that isn't venture fundable Valuable ideas that aren't valuable enough to pursue Systemitizing finding whether value could be harvested Where is the role of SBIRs in today's world SBIR decision making process Lengendary SBIR successes Push vs. Pull out of lab How do you find MIST projects Are there labs in unintuitive programs Next steps outside of local ecosystems? Does any new innovation need a champion? What should people be thinking about that they're not? TISM vs MIST

Errol Arkilic was the early pioneer of the iCorps

CEO of M34 private investment company, and founding and former lead program director for the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps program, Errol Arkilic, is interviewed by Heather McGough of Lean Startup Company. He shares how scientists are using technology to get out of the lab and into the marketplace using Lean Startup methods. Errol Arkilic can be reached on Twitter @[heather waiting] Heather McGough can be reached on Twitter @UrbanitySF Follow Lean Startup Co. @leanstartup