160 STARTUP IDEAS FROM $6 BILLION IN ANNUAL RESEARCHTuesday, January 25th, 2011
We regret to inform you that this event has been postponed due to the speakers unexpected travel schedule. A quintessential path to start up success and corporate innovation is found in research labs. In fact, entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate innovators literally troll university research labs. But there is an almost overwhelming challenge in this approach: business people view science, technology, and innovation in profoundly different ways than research scientists.
Bridging Research-Entrepreneur Gap Although research scientists may often recognize possible economic value of their research, most lack the business instincts and, especially, the risk-taking personality to leave secure institutional employment to create a new enterprise. Deepening this gap further, entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate managers, may not have the time, patience, or specific scientific background to understand a particular scientific innovation, and certainly don’t have the access or the time to comb through hundreds of research developments hoping to discover the seed for a new enterprise or product line. This event can begin bridging that gap.
Research Scientist Turned Successful EntrepreneurFor 10 years, Tom Brennan was a researcher at Sandia National Labs, one of the largest, and best-funded research laboratories in the world. Eventually, he uncovered an idea, licensed it from the federal government, founded a company, successfully grew it, and sold it. He crossed the gap from research scientist to successful entrepreneur.
Finding 160 Specific Startup IdeasToday, he is in the middle of a 2-year fellowship, funded by ARCH Ventures, but stationed inside of Sandia Labs. He spends every day trolling the halls of Sandia and other federally funded labs looking specifically for fundable startup ideas. He has created an extensive database of ongoing lab research and specific startup ideas,. Unlike a typical research scientist (or an uninspired computer database, for that matter), he can filter and search this database, like an entrepreneur, for startup ideas that are compelling, fundable, and potentially viable for a new enterprise or product line -- ideas that fit with a specific individual’s background (including non-scientific), business skills, and interests.
At This Event, Tom Will Share:- Stories of his past research and his successful startup
- His ongoing startup-ideas research at Sandia
- Particular areas of research appealing to Wharton community
- Some of the 160 specific startup ideas that he’s identified
Register Online
Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Time: 6:00-7:00pm - Networking Reception and Registration, 7:00-8:00pm - Presentation, 8:00-8:30pm – More networking
Location: Morgan Lewis,
3000 El Camino Real, Suite 700, Palo Alto, CA 94306
Registration: Popular event. Seating is limited. WCNC members and accompanied guests: $20 per person. Non-member alumni and other guests: $40 per person. Registrations after 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 23, 2011 are an extra $10 per ticket. Cancellations after Sunday, January 23, 2011 at the discretion of the WCNC. (No charge for Wharton Club Gold Ticket Members but remember as always to register via the above 'Register Online' link.)
