Temple engineering 2013

Technology Entrepreneurship
Is it in your future?

Andrew Maxwell Ph.D.

Overview of presentation
 What is technology entrepreneurship?
 Why study technology entrepreneurship?
 Biggest challenges for technology entrepreneurs?
 Why form a new venture?
 What are the critical factors for venture success?
 How does this affect your design project?
 Where can you find out more?
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Andrew Maxwell Ph.D.
 P. Eng. (Imperial), MBA (LBS)
 Ph.D. in Management of Technology
 Chief Innovation Officer, CIC
 Ass. Prof. Fox School of Business/College of Eng.
 Co-founder 4 technology startups, coached over 100
 Taught at U of Toronto/Waterloo
 Founded U of Toronto’s technology incubator
 Teach technology entrepreneurship online / in class

3

What is technology
entrepreneurship?
“An act of innovation that involves endowing existing resources
with new wealth producing capacity not restricted to a new
technological innovation that results from research and
development, or to an innovative cost reduction process, but
maybe a new application for existing technologies, a product or
service innovation or a new way or place of doing business”
Peter Drucker

Two types of technology entrepreneurs:
 Develop technology to drive a new venture
 Utilize technology to serve unmet market need
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What makes a successful
Technology Entrepreneurs?
 Combine technological ability, business skills and
entrepreneurial traits
 Able to manage / anticipate technology development
 Anticipate market needs
 Strong organizational, leadership and financial skills
 Able to find and form partnerships
 Passionate, committed and desire to have an impact
 Deal with business growth issues: raising external
finance, taking on business development role
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Why study technology
entrepreneurship at Temple?
 Traditional jobs for engineers not as easy to obtain
 Most new technologies launched in startups
 Engineers should look to understand technology
entrepreneurship as an option
 Taking technology entrepreneurship course helps you:
• Understand link between technology development / market demand
• Appreciate the performance and market risks
• Provide skills and tools that will help you in your career
• Help you work better with entrepreneurial technology companies
• Develop a possible entrepreneurial roadmap
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Example from class
Bufferbox class presentation (Uwaterloo)

Complete presentation: https://vimeo.com/31990205
Company web site: www.bufferbox.com
Bufferbox in 2 minutes: http://vimeo.com/59006368

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What can you learn in a technology
entrepreneurship class?
 Help link design project to a market need
 Understand market validation / venture creation process
 Build high-performance technology/business teams
 Identify the critical factors for venture sucess
 Anticipate and overcome challenges of raising money

Entrepreneurship and commercialization of technological
innovation recognized as drivers regional wealth
Enhance your value in the competitive job market AND
help you ascertain if entrepreneurship is in your future 8

What are the biggest
challenges for engineers?
Change from science of technology to science of people:
 Learn how to become a leader and team builder
 Understand how and why customers adopt new product
 Be willing to share control with multiple stakeholders
 Solve critical problems - develop decision processes
 Make decisions without complete information
 Build confidence in team, investors and customers
Understand the technology is not the solution, but a mean
to provide customer value 9

Lessons from academics
 Problems relying on individual experience:
 Sample size is small
 Tendency to rely only on successes
 Problems relying on theory:
 Based on what should happen – not what does happen
 Ignore complexity – to provide simple prescriptions
 Motivated my research:
 Venture characteristics that lead to success not failure
 Entrepreneur characteristics that lead to success not failure
 How investors make investment decisions
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Eight critical characteristics for
venture success
 Market adoption
 Market potential
 User acceptance
 Route to market
 Technology stage
 Barrier to entry
 Entrepreneur experience
 Financial viability
11

Twelve characteristics of
successful entrepreneurs
 Capability:
 Competence, critical thinking, new resource skill
 Experience:
 Prior activities, relevant knowledge, education
 Traits:
 Confidence, extraversion, openness,
agreeableness, conscientiousness
 Relationship building:
 Trusting, able, trustworthy, communicative
Highly motivated to have impact – but might have to
choose between maximizing cash or being king
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What investors look for

 Solutions that create a new value for customers
 Have a significant technology advantage
 Able to achieve a first mover advantage
 Scalable and in a dynamic and growing market
 Able to show benefits of new venture creation
 Have a management team that is capable
 Capable of building long-term relationship between
investor and management team
 Andrew’s TEDX UW talk on trust
Full presentation 2 minute presentation
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Why form a new venture, rather
than use an existing corporation?
 Business opportunity might be too risky
 Business might disrupt market & challenge incumbent

 Entrepreneur’s commitment essential for success

 Existing companies unable to see opportunity, or too
interested in looking after existing business
 Alternate partnerships required for success

 Corporate culture and processes might be too slow

However, if complementary assets, large dollars, or strong
brand required - existing company might be optimal
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How do these insights
influence your design project?
 Design project one of highlights of undergrad course
 Use it to solve real problem, and understand application
 To commercialize –
 Understand value proposition
 Evaluate competitor alternates
 Anticipate how people will make adoption decision
 Brainstorm commercialization options
 Plan A through existing company (how do you choose)
 Plan B through start up (your role and your team)
 Build team consensus (who owns/does what)
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Potential outcomes
Google acquires Bufferbox - December 2012

BufferBox - Let us handle your package

Action items
www.fox.temple.edu/iei

If you are interested in an entrepreneurial career:
 Get involved in Entrepreneur Student Association -
meeting every Wednesday 12.00 -1.00 in Alter 503
 BYOBB – business plan competition – join a team
 Entrepreneur workshops – every Thursday 4.30 –
6.00 in Alter 503
 Course: Entrepreneurial engineering
 Demo class:
https://secure.vidyard.com/dashboard?direction=desc&order_by=created_at&page=
12&rollup=day

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Thanks for your time

Questions?

Andrew Maxwell
Email: Andrew.maxwell@temple.edu
Office: Alter Hall 551

Blog: http://www.DrAndrewMaxwell.com

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Temple engineering 2013

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Temple engineering 2013