Page 19 - Technology and Innovation Journal - 19-1

UNIVERSITY-BASED TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATORS 357

• Other Educational and Networking Events: The in addition to customer discovery, there are many
chosen educational methodology may not include details of the health care system, as well as regulatory
important elements in start-up creation, espe- and reimbursement processes, that teams need to
cially targeted content relevant to an indus- understand before they move forward. This means
try vertical. Accordingly, the program mana- that more time is spent on these issues, hence a longer
gers host a significant number of one-off lec- course. On the other hand, given Combine’s focus on
tures or office hours with experts on specific media technologies, the customer discovery process
topics relevant to the field. These include lec- is in many cases far more critical compared to fur-
tures on intellectual property, company ther technical development. Accordingly, all of the
formation, SBIR/Small Business Technology instruction and training around customer discovery
Transfer (STTR) funding, selling into industry- need to happen up front before the bulk of the award
specific channels, understanding relevant is given.
regulatory issues, and immigration and visa
challenges. To help teams network with industry Post-Award Process
professionals, periodic showcases and demo The final format of the post-award process will
days are also encouraged. These activities are depend heavily on the particular industry, amount
often shared across the accelerator programs of funding, availability of the program managers,
and/or university ecosystem since they are appli- and other factors. Accelerators could include any
cable to many kinds of ventures. combination of the following components:
The requirements for commercializing a tech- • Award Setup: Since teams may receive feedback
nology within a given industry drive the timing and from reviewers at each stage, a team may need to
structure of the curriculum. As an example of how change the milestones and/or budget from those
the above elements can be customized, all three of presented in their initial proposal. Reviewers
Columbia’s accelerators host educational sessions, but may require changes that teams must agree to
each takes a different approach to how these sessions in order to get funding. Scheduling a post-award
are implemented. PowerBridgeNY’s program requires notification meeting to discuss the general terms
a two-day session for applicants, a one-day program and conditions of the award, the specific
for awardees, and monthly assignments during the details of the milestones, associated deliverables,
award period. In contrast, the Columbia-Coulter and approved budget items allows program
medical technology accelerator hosts an optional, but managers to set expectations and ensure every-
highly recommended, 12-week course for applicants, one is on the same page.
and Combine hosts a required 10-week boot camp • Tranches: In most cases, funding is released in
for awardees. tranches based on both business and technical
This diversity of approaches derives from the milestones, not solely the progression of time or
goals and operating conditions of each program. the incurrence of cost. Doing so allows program
For example, clean technology projects are typically administrators to retain enough influence to
technically involved, have long development time- keep teams on track and ensure that award fund-
lines, and require more advanced prototypes prior ing is used to advance the technology towards
to in-depth customer outreach. Hence, for PBNY, the marketplace. The balance of business and
most of the customer discovery efforts that would technical milestones helps to keep teams think-
normally be front-loaded are completed after the ing about their end goal of university exit versus
award in parallel to when teams are doing their pro- solely building a prototype. Business milestones
totype development. The abbreviated two-day boot can include customer discovery, IP review, mar-
camp during the application process largely serves ket assessment, competitive landscape analysis,
as a teaser to engage the teams in thinking about business plan creation, incorporating a company,
the marketplace and to test how receptive they are creating a cap table, executing an IP agreement,
to coaching and feedback. In medical technology, attending an industry conference, and creating