LeanLaunch

PAD@ SINGAPORE

Over the years, NUS has generated a significant

number of technological inventions.

As of end of 2011,

NUS has been granted 279 patents

by the US Patent Office

• The key challenge is to generate something valuable

from these inventions

- R&D: Turn Money into Knowledge

- Commercialization: Turn Knowledge into Money

• How can an invention be commercialized?

- License it? To Whom?

- Build a Product/Service? For Whom?

- Start a company to do it? To Do What?

A Technology Commercialization Plan is just a set of

hypotheses about how an invention can be turned into

end products/services that some customers will pay for

“Before we build a better mousetrap, we need to find out if

there is any mice out there.”

- Yogi Berra

THE IDEA OF “LEAN”

• Search/Generate Hypotheses about how you can

make money

• Test/Validate your Hypotheses, Fail Fast, Fail Early,

Pivot, Before You Commit Big $$

THE IDEA OF “LEAN”

How to NOT launch: Webvan

THE LEAN LAUNCHPAD

• Adopted by National Science Foundation since 2011.

• Taught at Stanford University, Georgia Tech, University of

Michigan, Berkeley, Columbia, NYU, Caltech, etc.

• Recently partnered with National Collegiate Inventors

and Innovators Association.

• Early evidence of success in SBIR Phase 1 funding –

approval rates

• 18% of teams who did not take the class

• 60% of teams who did take the class

THE LEAN LAUNCHPAD

Lean LaunchPad Pedagogy

• Hands-on experiential learning

• Flipped classroom

• Design Business Model

• Customer Discovery

• Agile Engineering

The LLP is Based On

• Business Model Generation

• The Lean Startup

• The Startup Owners Manual

BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS

13images by JAM

customer

segmentskey

partners

cost

structure

revenue

streams

channels

customer

relationships

key activities

key

resources

value

proposition

The Startup Canvas: 9 Guesses

Guess Guess

Guess

Guess

Guess

Guess

Guess

GuessGuess

LLP: Process to Change Guesses into Facts

Guess Guess

Guess

Guess

Guess

Guess

Guess

GuessGuess

BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS

CUSTOMER DISCOVERY

CUSTOMER DISCOVERY

RULE #1.

There Are No Facts Inside The Building,

So Get the Heck Outside

CUSTOMER DISCOVERY

Get out of the Building

CUSTOMER DISCOVERY

Test your hypothesis

MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT

CUSTOMER DISCOVERY

Pivot

Hypotheses>Design>Test>Insight Loop

Customer Discovery

Customer

Discovery

Phase 1AuthorHypothesis

Phase 2TestProblemHypothesis

Phase 4Verify, Iterate & Expand

Phase 3TestProductHypothesis

To Validation

TEAM FORMATION

Principal Investigator

Principal Investigator

MentorMentor

EntrepreneurEntrepreneurMBA StudentMBA Student

Entrepreneurial Lead

(Graduate / Post Doc)

Entrepreneurial Lead

(Graduate / Post Doc)

PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR (PI)

Characteristics

• Tenured Professor/Senior Researcher

• Has a strong portfolio of technologies or a new invention that he/she is keen to see commercialized

• May have patented their inventions, some may have secured POC grants or may even have started their companies

Role

• Creator of the science / technology or research that is within striking distance to product or process demonstration.

• Technical lead & visionary

• Commitment to participate in Initial Bootcamp and Final Presentation, plus time availability for some of the weekly consultation sessions

ENTREPRENEURIAL LEAD

Characteristics

• Post-doc or graduate student

• Relevant knowledge of the technology and a deep commitment to investigate the commercial landscape surrounding the innovation

• May be complemented by another student with entrepreneurial or business training (e.g. MBA)

Role

• Selected by the PI to support the transition of the technology, to leave the academic institution

• Expected to participate fully in the program, including the field interviews and weekly sessions

MENTOR

Characteristics

• An experienced business person with relevant domain expertise in the potential areas of application of the technology

• May be an experienced entrepreneur, investor or executive who have worked on transiting technology out of academic lab

Role

• Provide insight from business and industry

• The Mentor is expected to participate in most of the initial bootcamp to guide the team forward and to provide advice and inputs through the weekly sessions and to track their progress and have regular communication with the LLP@SG program director/faculty

TEAM SELECTION CRITIREA

• Priority for teams involving NUS PIs or start-up founders

• “Readiness” of Technology for Commercialization

• Interest & Commitments of PI

• Composition of Team Members already in place

• For non-NUS related teams, potential for collaboration with NUS

READING MATERIALS

• Business Model Generation: A Handbook for

Visionaries, Game Changers and Challengers

(Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, 2010)

• The Startup Owner’s Manual, The Step-by-

Step Guide for Building a Great Company

(Steve Blank and Bob Dorf, 2012)

KEY LEARNING ACTIVITIES

• Intensive 2-day Initial Bootcamp (April 7 & 8) with Face-to-Face Lectures and Group Work

• Weekly Field Interviews (10 per week) and documentation of findings on online platform Launchpad Central

• Weekly Watching of Online Video Lectures (2-3 hours)

• Weekly Feedback Session & Group Work (2-3 hours)

• Regular Consultation with Mentors & Program Faculty

• Final intensive presentation & feedback sessions

(June 9)

Week No. Date Topic

1 7-8 April 2014 Business Model Canvas, Customer Segment,

Product Offering & Value Proposition;

1 10 April 2014 Customer Relationships Get/Keep/Grow &

Channels ; Interview techniques

2 17 April 2014 Revenue Models

3 24 April 2014 Key Activities & Key Resources

4 30 April 2014 Partnerships

5 8 May 2014 Cost & Financing Requirements

6 15 May 2014 Putting It Altogether

7 22 May 2014 Preparation of Plan

8 29 May 2014 Presentation Skills Training; Preparation for

Final Presentation

9 5 June 2014 “Lessons Learned” Presentation & video Trial

Preparation & Feedback

10 9 June 2014 Final Presentations & Feedback

SCHEDULE

Faculty Trainers

Prof Wong Poh Kam Jerome Engel Steve Blank

Prof Virginia Cha Prof Neo Kok Beng