Page 82 - Technology and Innovation Journal - 19-1

420 NIJHAWAN

a. Launched a marketing strategy to boost c. Formed an external advisory board (EAB) to
BU’s share of attention from industry and provide guidance, counsel, support, and
the local new venture ecosystem. Some business connectivity to the managing direc-
activities included i) the July 2010 launch of tor to accomplish the OTD’s mission and
an annual “Tech, Drugs and Rock ‘N Roll” invited high-profile academic and business
showcase of BU research and inventions; leaders to join.
ii) the creation of the Innovator of the Year d. We reviewed our entire licensed and
award to select and celebrate a faculty inven- unlicensed patent portfolio to ensure we
tor’s accomplishments the previous year; were maximizing revenue both through
iii) the launching of the quarterly Terrier license compliance and, if needed, enforce-
Tech newsletter; and iv) a streamlined OTD ment. In enforcement, we focused on two
website for easier navigation. commercially successful licenses and pre-
b. OTD already had a new ventures focus, but vailed in both. In addition, to address patent
it had few VC-backed successes. We reor- expenses, we successfully streamlined the
ganized that focus into three functions: criteria for terminating patents that had
i. Start-up Accelerator: Support Principal little chance of licensing by creating the “six-
Investigator (PI) new ventures by attract- year rule.” (By examining historical BU
ing professional management, preparing inventions, we discovered if an invention has
business plans and fundraising presen- not been licensed within six years of pat-
tations, and identifying sources of fund- ent filing, it is unlikely to garner future
ing, such as VC. industry interest.)
ii. Gap Funding: Rationalized BU gap 3. Implementation of a program to Minimize
funding strategy to address capital Friction:
needs of PI projects at key stages of a. Established a working group of the top new
development. For early-stage technology venture lawyers in Boston to develop the
development, we offered grants via the BU EZ Express Startup License with subse-
Ignition Grant program. For mid-stage quent significant reduction in redlining.
technology development for medical b. Implemented web-based electronic forms
technology, we offered the Coulter and electronic signatures for most agree-
Grant Funding program. For PI spin- ments.
offs into new ventures, we offered the c. Updated agreement templates and estab-
Launch program (bridge financing that lished processes to complete agreements.
required matching funding from a d. Developed a process for quick university
source outside BU). Additional support decisions on the return of inventions to
provided to gap funding from Pfizer faculty.
and Fraunhofer Alliance funded pro- e. Increased provisional patent to utility patent
grams. conversion rate from 25 out of 50 (50%) in
iii. Kindle Mentoring Program: Modeled FY 2011 to 25 out of 29 (86%) in FY 2014.
on MIT Venture Mentoring Service, 4. Established a set of OTD Metrics:
our program recruited over 40 mentors a. Leading Indicators: Collisions, Invention
to support faculty and student research Disclosures
commercialization. These mentors are b. Lagging Indicators: Patents, Follow-on
successful chief executive officers (CEO) Funding
or industry executives, several of c. Outcome Indicators: Licensing Revenue,
whom are BU alumni. They have a License Compliance
commitment to students and faculty Results from implementing the Maximize Col-
and have put in countless numbers of lisions, Minimize Friction technology transfer
hours, all on a volunteer basis. platform at OTD: