The Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena), or German Energy Agency, has launched ‘Start Up Energy Transition’, a global business competition open to start-ups and early-stage companies in the energy sector. Continue reading
{credit}Topp_Yimgrimm/ThinkStock{/credit}
In stark contrast to the proliferation of web based start-ups led by young founders, science based start-ups have typically remained the domain of seasoned professors, spinning out breakthrough technology built on years of research. This is changing rapidly, and it’s now more viable than ever to start a science based company straight out of a PhD. In fact, it might just be one of the most sensible career paths that you can take.
Students at Imperial College’s Marker’s meetup present ideas and get feedback
{credit}Eric Millette{/credit}
In this month’s Windback Wednesday series, we’re exploring entrepreneurship: how to brush up on your business skills, where to get venture capital funding and more. In this podcast, I speak to Steve Blank, an associate professor at Stanford University engineering school, a lecturer at UC Berkeley Haas Business School, Columbia Business School and the University of California in San Fransisco (UCSF). On top of all of that, he is also a thought leader of the Lean Start-up movement.
I met Steve last week at a SynBioBeta event at Imperial College London. He gave a very engaging key note speech on the Wednesday evening, giving us a flavour of what a Lean Start-up business is. He put several audience members on the spot, asking them to sell someone else’s “idea or concept” to neighbours, who always (as per Steve’s instruction) said no thanks. They said no thanks, because of who was doing the selling. Steve was trying to make the point that if you, the scientist, have an idea or an invention that you think could be commercialised, then you, the scientist, need to go out and sell. You can’t hire a VP of sales or a marketing manager. YOU know your invention better than anyone else, YOU need to leave the lab and sell YOUR idea.
https://www.nature.com/multimedia/podcast/naturejobs/naturejobs-2014-04-10.mp3 Continue reading
{credit}Naturejobs{/credit}
The word entrepreneur comes from the 13th century french verb entreprendre, which literally translates to “to do something” or “to undertake”. By the 16th century, the word entrepreneur had developed a meaning of its own: someone who undertakes a business venture. It’s distinguishing features, according to Richard Cantillon (an 18th century economist), are an understanding of risk and being prepared to do business without guaranteed profits. Sounds scary, but it doesn’t need to be.
In a recent interview with Naturejobs (podcast to follow soon!), Steve Blank, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, described entrepreneurship as a cross between science and art:
“Artists have something inside of them that they want to bring to fruition, and actually see tangible results of: it’s not just thinking about music or listening to music, they want to make music. Making a start-up and making something commercial is exactly that same feeling, and if you don’t have that passion for it, you shouldn’t get engaged. But if you do have that passion for it, you will figure out how to split up some time, take 6 months off or take a sabbatical…. [and] you will find, once in your life, you will experience what it takes to actually do a start-up. But this isn’t a job, this is a passion.”
On that much happier note, we’re going to start this month’s series on entrepreneurship with Neil Savvage’s article on Innovation: Brushing up on business. As well as case-studies, this article gives some insight into practical talks and training courses scientists can do to brush up on their business skills.
Throughout this month, we’ll also be looking at how to find some venture capital to fund ideas, how to become a bio-entrepreneur and how women can find a way in to the entrepreneurial world.
But what we’d like to know is: what does the word entrepreneur mean to you?
Cross-posted from Trade Secrets blog
Brady Huggett
The word entrepreneur is thrown around so much, it can begin to lose its meaning. The term sounds vaguely swashbuckling, as if every person it applies to is flippantly quitting a secure academic job to roll the dice on a sexy, but probably doomed, start-up.
That may or may not be accurate, but the best way to define an entrepreneur is to go talk to one. Or several. Along those lines, Index Ventures (with support from Nature Biotechnology), is hosting a day-long event on October 18 in London, bringing together five experienced biotech entrepreneurs to explain just what it’s like to be at the forefront of biotech company formation.
The event will include personal perspectives from those who have already made the leap, as well as a business pitch workshop.
The event is free to students and academics. Read more about the event, and how to sign up, on the Trade Secrets blog.