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Business Planning

The Political Economy of Innovation: Concept to

Formation to IPO

4 Key Areas to Ponder• Creating a Mind Trust• The Politics of Innovation• The Limitations of the Business

Community• The Limitations of the

Entrepreneur

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Mind Trust• Shared Investment• It is the link between economy and

innovation• Middle Ground between Mind Trust and the

Politics of Innovation• Education

• Education: Secondary and Post Secondary• Support for Small Business of Start Up MBA• High School Acadamies

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Political of Innovation• What governments do and don’t do• Policy Innovation• Creating Conditions Where Cream

Rises to the Top• Competition• IP Streamlining

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Limitations of Business Community

• Limits of Incubators and Accelerators (even Crowdsourcing)

• Money is not going to solve any innovation of business problem

• Business Community is full of Skeptics• Less Optimists

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Limitations of Entrepreneurs• Sometimes Own-worst-enemies• Arrive at important business decisions by

assumption• Do-it-All mentality

• Doesn’t play to strengths• Don’t delegate

• Cookie Cutter Solutions don’t always work• What works for others don’t always work for

you

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Limitations of Entrepreneurs • Serial SBIR/STTR Grant Recipients

• Job security through grants• Will never grow out of the lab

• Inability to Create a Compelling Business Case

• Information Asymmetry• Sometimes business leaders don’t trust the

data• Poor Reasoned Decision Making

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There is a solution…“In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable” –Dwight D. Eisenhower•A Small Investment in research and competitive analysis ($1000 – 4000)•Create Business and Commercialization Plans•Should be done early (Concept and Start-Up Phase) in a Company or Product Lifecycle•Updated Regularly

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Defining the Value of Market Intelligence

External:– Market Risk Mitigation– Market Risk Exposure Reduction– Leveraging knowledge against exigencies of the market and

overall product performance – Reduces uncertainty

Internal:– Effective market benchmarking– Define Investment Opportunities– Support Strategic Partnerships; Understand Supply Chain– Support Financing– Support Go-To-Market Strategy– Understand Customers and Define Value

We live in a business world where…

- The business environment is clouded with seemingly contradictory information

- We are bombarded with new information constantly- We don’t always know what constitutes the right

information…or how it effects how we make decisions- We need to stay current and informed about our

direction- We lack the tools for information symmetry, to remain

competitive- We need to plan ahead

WE NEED INFORMATION Conscientia Research • Pasadena, CA 10

Information…• Reduces risk• Increases certainty• Is the creator of goals and objectives• Increases the ability to plan• …To execute• …To DECIDE

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Advantages of Professional Research

Professional Research achieves:

Timely

Current

Consultative

Known, fixed budget. No added headcount.

Broad range of knowledge

Access to information on key markets

Knowledge of how to utilize information

Helps you make intelligent decisions quickly

Provides recommendations to help your business planning

Outcomes Matter• Information is important• Create models• Can justify and clarify goal setting• Determine realistic expectations• Mitigate hazards and barriers to growth• Use information to increase chances of

success and beat the information asymmetry war

• Better Outcomes = Better Payoffs

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Preparation for the Entrepreneur • Keep accurate records of profit and loss• Get sales• Understand the some of the gaps and needs• Get a Professional to Conduct Research

• Access to data beyond the internet• Used to making market intelligence assessments• Create modeling options• Business Planning

• Make a list of Compromises• Consider Budget and Timetable

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Thank youQUESTIONS?

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