Based on Limited ExperienceMany many exceptions

Lot of evidence to suggest

Academic research can lead to significant commercial value creation

Academic technology transfer is hard

Academic Research => Companies

Small Sample from Stanford

Small Sample from Other Places

Why is technology transfer from

academia so hard?

Many Reasons…

Lot of university research not relevant

Developers of technology not motivated enough to participate

What if technology is right and people are motivated?

Value Creation for a Successful Company

Valu

e

Time of Tech Transfer

Univ Focuses on

Tussle with University Tech Office

Univ wants a fraction of the final value

o Breaks everything

Entrepreneurs

o Don’t have much capital

o Want to conserve equity

So cannot please university

Tech developers more important than the exclusive license

Value Creation for a Successful Company

Valu

e

Time of Tech Transfer

Tussle with Technology Developers

Developers want too much equity given their creation represents most of the value ignoring

o Risks

o Future developments needed

Investors and managers

o Want to conserve equity Only couple of developers are key - identifying

them critical

Stanford has good track record …

9

Stanford’s Approach?

Stanford Approach

Tech office “metrics of success”Licensing revenue is not one of them

butSuccessful technology transfer

Tech office is a partner Wanting to help faculty and students as opposed to adversarial negotiator

But then how does Stanford benefit from

Tech Transfer?

Final Takeaways Academic research can lead to significant

commercial value creation

Successful tech transfer from academia requires

Identification of technology that is relevant

Persuading developers to be part of tech transfer

o with reasonable expectations

Change in universities’ tech office approach

o Metrics of success: not licensing revenue but actual tech transfer

o Open source is also forcing this change