Associate Peter Hanschke is an Ottawa-based product management specialist. His post is part of our continuing series about the ecosystem necessary to bring technology to market. We welcome your comments.
By Peter Hanschke
Startups begin with little to no money. Much of the early development of their product is funded by the owner, by his or her friends and maybe even by an angel. Every dollar is used wisely and focused at the topmost activity. To build the product from concept through to MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and to the point where a small number of customers can use the product, the company has one, maybe two, full- or part-time developers. In some cases the owner pitches in occasionally to help in development or testing.
Young and lean
In such an environment, drive, enthusiasm and the will to succeed fuels the development process. The product takes shape as the development iterations roll by. Occasionally more money is needed to fuel the development engine, which the owner must somehow secure. Without real customers validating the solution, it’s difficult to get significant funding to speed up the development process or build a more enriched product.
Despite the tough times at this stage of the startup, this is in fact a very desirable situation.
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As part of our ongoing series examining the ecosystem necessary to bring technology to market, we asked serial entrepreneur Jason Flick to share some of his insights. This is his next commentary and we welcome your feedback.
By Jason Flick
Past posts in this series have explored the complexities of turning intellectual property created in a university into a flourishing business. Some of the issues are specific to Canada, but, generally speaking, there is no reason why we can’t do more with what we have. My biggest complaint is that by my estimation – and I have also heard the number elsewhere – 80 percent of startups in Silicon Valley have a close working relationship with a university, while in Canada, the number is much closer to 20 percent. To be honest, I think that Canadian figure is optimistic. I would love to hear examples of productive relationships between universities, colleges and startups.
How do we fix this and why is it happening? I have invested a fair bit of time working with, and trying to work with, our academic institutions. Let’s start with why we so rarely lever their strengths to support startups here in Canada.
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Thank you for being with us for the ninth month of our new blog. In case you missed them, here is a recap of our posts from October.
Moving forward with our two new series, Technology Marketing 101, and A Startup’s Story, we uncovered how startup BlueArc managed to move past the “wow” factor of its technology to achieve market penetration, explored the fine art of the business hustle and how it helped CommentAir Technologies bootstrap its way to market, explained how telling the right story helped Screenreach drive customer acquisition, and introduced a new startup, Genevolve Vision Diagnostics.
Beyond our series, we further investigated the roles of the IP Co-ordinator and social media champion, shared more best practices on PR and marketing and examined how the brain reacts to technology, among other subjects. And of course, we also paid our respects to the Pitch Innovator Steve Jobs. We welcome your feedback.
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This is the first article in a continuing monthly series that will chronicle the growth path of Genevolve Vision Diagnostics, a life sciences startup based in Albuquerque, NM that is commercializing cutting edge genetic research to develop new diagnostic tests and gene therapies for colour blindness.
By Francis Moran and Leo Valiquette
When a startup’s underlying intellectual property has already been hailed by Time Magazine as one of the year’s top 10 scientific discoveries, it may foster the perception that the road to commercial success is already assured. But president and CEO Matt Lemelin and the team at Genevolve Vision Diagnostics have learned that a great discovery is only the beginning of a long and challenging journey.
“We are creating a new market with an advanced technology that many said was not possible,” Lemelin said. “We’ve been labeled as pioneers, a term that concerns me ever since I heard a seasoned veteran state ‘pioneers get slaughtered, settlers prosper.’”
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This is a guest post from investment coach Martin Soorjoo. We welcome your comments.
By Martin Soorjoo
During the course of writing a book on pitching, I reminded myself of the magical presentation skills of Steve Jobs. I watched his mesmerizing Macworld presentations from start to finish, and read and re-read the text of his insightful and inspirational 2005 Stanford commencement address.
It therefore came as a deep shock to me to find out that, within hours of sending the completed manuscript to my publishers, Jobs had passed away. Having watched his presentations so many times on video recently, he was, in my mind, very much alive.
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By Peter Hanschke
