Commercialization Success and Failure

The Waterloo Experience

Panel 2: Public Funding and Innovation in Post-Secondary Institutions

Why Waterloo Works

More than 700 tech companies in Waterloo Region

Sectors include information technology, biomedical,

aerospace, environmental technology and advanced

manufacturing.

Together, they employ more than 30,000

employees

Why Waterloo Works

TALENT:

Diversified Universities & Colleges (U Waterloo, WLU, Connestoga)

Business Entrepreneurship Schools (CBET, Schlegel,…)

MENTORING , SUPPORT & NETWORKING:

Incubator (Accelerator Centre, CDMN Hub, Velocity, Gabae, …)

Industry Technology Hub (Communitech)

Embedded Commercialization Orgs (OCE, IRAP, …)

Strong community participation (Individuals, Corporations, Service Providers, Agencies)

Community Resources (Tech Jobs Waterloo, Waterloo Tech Startup, …)

Why Waterloo Works

CULTURE & ECOSYSTEM:

Entrepreneur events: (Ignition, Launchpad, Entrepreneur week, Entrepreneurs Edge, Startup Camp)

Social Networks: (Waterloo Bar Camp , Start-up Camp)

Major Tech Corporations: (RIM, Open Text, ComDev, Microsoft, Google, …)

Favorable IP Policies , Strong TTOs, Excellent Student programs

ACCESS to FUNDING:

Active Angel and VC Network (Tech Capital Partners, Golden Triangle Angelnet, Infusion Angels, High Net Worth Individuals)

Factors Driving Success

Hardworking People with Great Ideas

Great Mentors

Seamless Collaboration

Massive Community Goodwill

Complete Ecosystem

Strong Brand

Outcomes Driven

Common Vision

Example –

ACE – Accelerator for Commercialization Excellence ACE and its partners provide students, researchers,

entrepreneurs and technology start ups with an integrated continuum of support and expertise

Entrepreneurs benefit by being near each other and are easier to fund.

Pitch Sessions for resource provisioning Outcomes: Jobs, Revenues, Follow-on Investments

When Start-ups go wrong

1 Technology push (I love this so will you)

2 Technology tinkering (never good enough)

3 Lack of focus (too many shiny objects)

4 Little or no customer engagement (no customer validation)

5 No sales (sales, nah we need investors!)

6 Poor business skills and/or governance (right person wrong job)

7 Running out of money

Avoiding Trouble

1. Start with a customer

2. Stay focused on “the target” Test decisions against the goal

3. Get a coach, mentor or experienced executive

4. Gather enough resources to build a bridge to next. “Is the bus waiting for you at the station or has it left by the time you arrive there”?

5. Find/use “smart” money

6. Manage your IP

7. Use good people

Public Funding: Roles

Create a supportive environment for entrepreneurs, innovation and investors

Governments programs are an important catalyst in the growth of venture markets

Foster global connections

WHY?

Technological innovation drives economic growth

Entrepreneurship and venture capital stimulate 3X the innovation of corporate R&D

Public Funding: Getting it wrong

Misguided funding strategies are dangerous as public and private entities will follow the money trail which may lead to a blind alley.

Investments can be made in facilities / institutions / programs where ultimately there is no demand.

IP can get assigned to organizations that are incapable of exploiting them.

Resources get wasted propping up failing ventures and funding ill-conceived new businesses for the sake of metrics.

Well “oiled” ecosystems capture a disproportionate share of subsidies which may not end up supporting the best opportunities.

Wasted Resources

Lack of coordination between various levels of government results in duplication of admin and overlapping funding.

Program funding is too small to have any impact –providing just enough money to fail. Wasted time scrapping together enough $

Funding is so large that it swamps/ duplicates other existing programs.

Programs created that ignore market realities - funding sectors, regions, industries where there is no interest or capacity to absorb the result.

Public Funding: Getting it right

Innovative ideas must move easily out of publicly funded institutions.

Tax and legal policies have major impact on attracting domestic and foreign capital.

Technology and Business students need to be educated in entrepreneurship.

Build and support strong entrepreneurial ecosystems .

Thoughtfully design programs to address future growth sectors, adequately fund them, and allow sufficient time for them to work (generally 5-10 years)

Provide incentives that drive outcomes not metrics. Measure and course correct as programs are rolled out.

Make programs flexible and able to respond to market dynamics. Don’t over engineer.