Dear Readers:Some interesting information follows, coutesy of the Technology Transfer Newsletter. It is certainly worth looking at. It follows for your education and enjoyment. Incidently, the acronym "TTO" stands for a Technology Transfer Organization. Regardless, the news that follows is applicable to all businesses.
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Do you know what VCs are really looking for? Financing is the mother’s milk of commercialization, and IP marketers know that venture capital firms can be a valuable source of funds. But in order to successfully target this important audience, you need to know exactly what they’re looking for. At a recent Northwest Entrepreneur Network breakfast meeting, managing director Lucinda Stewart of OVP Venture Partners shared her thoughts on how to successfully engage venture capitalists. Here are some of her “insider” tips on what VC execs are really thinking when asked to back a technology:
How big is this market? VCs want a big opportunity so they’re looking for big markets. In addition to market size, they will be assessing how open the market is. A deal becomes very exciting when it’s part of a big, open market with no entrenched leader.
Who knows this person? If you don’t know anyone at the VC, then leverage a back-door contact who can recommend you. Lawyers are a great source, as is anyone else the VC knows and respects, such as a local business exec or successful entrepreneur. When these sources are leveraged, a meeting is more likely. Without smart networking, you are forced to send e-mails or make cold calls, which are usually dead on arrival.
Is this an out-of-the-box idea? VCs know that an upside in well-worn product categories isn’t usually there. That’s why they get excited by business ideas that demonstrate break-out thinking, or doing things in a completely new way.
Can they prove it? An innovative idea is made much more interesting to VCs if you show a pathway to validation. Unfortunately this often presents a chicken-egg scenario. Without market validation, a great advisory board should be assembled to reinforce concept validation. These individuals should be well-known industry veterans who can speak to VCs about why the idea has merit.
How deep is the management team? A common weakness is a start-up that's led by a technology founder without a partner. VCs want biodiversity and sales DNA on the team. If you can’t recruit partners without funding, find people who will confirm that they will come on board once funding is available. Expect the VC to contact these people.
Are the leaders experienced? VCs want a smart, focused entrepreneur who can bridge the big idea with the right background, and has a logical execution plan. This demonstrates knowledge and experience and establishes confidence with the VC. If you’re not a serial entrepreneur, the bar will be much higher.
Do you know what your ‘corporate personality’ is? Whether you’re marketing for a TTO or a start-up, your organization must have a corporate personality -- which plays an important role in how your brand is perceived, according to Elayna Fernandez, head of the Southwest Florida marketing consulting firm, Design 2 Impress. Creating a personality “is where you really put into words why you do what you do and how you do it, and it allows you to really connect with your audience at an emotional level,” Fernandez says. “It gives you a chance to answer their question: ‘Why should I do business with you?’”
Here are some key corporate personality elements Fernandez says you should include in all your marketing pieces:
Your Mission Statement: This should be a short, concise, but very specific statement that spells out your business purpose, goals, and priorities, clearly describing who you want to sell to, what you want to sell and why you do it (as in why should they care and what’s in it for them).
Your Vision: This should be a short, succinct and inspiring statement summarizing your hoped for achievements in the marketplace.
Your Values: How do you run your organization? What moves you and your team? What causes do you support? How do you describe your lifestyle? You’ll be surprised how itemizing these principles will instill the necessary trust to attract wonderful prospects, Fernandez says.
“Don’t forget,” she adds, “that all elements of your corporate identity should be consistent with the core marketing message you want to communicate.”
Make your booth stand out in the crowd. Trade show exhibit areas are filled with booth displays, many of which seem cut from the same cloth. How do you make yours stand out in the crowd? “The display of your product is extremely important in trade shows; nothing should be in the way of the product -- make sure it is in full view and there is no hindrance in the way,” advises David Hay, the owner of 858 GRAPHICS in San Diego. “If your product has mechanical or physical movement, do try to have it running in order to attract the crowd.”
Furthermore, he says, try to make your booth both attractive and interactive, showing off your specialties and range, so new customers can quickly understand what you are doing and what products or technologies you have to offer. “The thing to remember . . . is that customers are not only interested in knowing the features of the product, but what benefits they will get out of it,” Hay continues. “You may want to focus more on the latter, as that is what makes your trade show booth stand out."
Want to get your point across? Learn to speak ‘Venutian’ “Inventors are from Mars, and business people are from Venus,” says Ken Bloemer, PhD, executive director of Planet Eureka! an affiliate of Eureka! Ranch International, an innovation research and development company in Cincinnati. The languages spoken by inventors and business people, he notes, are so different that IP marketing messages often get lost in translation. “Many [TTO] sites are extremely difficult to understand,” says Bloemer. “If I am a buyer interested in seeking out IP they make it very difficult for me as a business person to appreciate what’s on the site.” The technologies found on university or federal lab sites -- and many other marketing pieces, for that matter -- are described in very technical and legal terms, not business-friendly terms, he says. “If I’m a businessperson, time is one of my most valuable resources,” Bloemer notes. “I need to be able to do quick searches.”
What TTO’s should be looking for, Bloemer advises, “is a one-sentence description of what the technology is, in such a way that a 12-year-old can understand it.” To help achieve this goal, Eureka! Ranch is building an Internet site that it calls an Innovation Marketplace -- an online registry that will have descriptions of inventions for browsing by prospective buyers in the U.S. and in other countries across the globe. In preparation for the launching of the U.S. site, which will go live in 2009, the organization is providing workshops for IP marketers that help them “translate” their technical language into a concise description that target audiences will find appealing. A detailed article offering specific guidance on bridging the “language gap” between TTOs and businesses appears in the November issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.
More practical business observations and tips:
A web site is priority one. Social media tools can enhance and extend a web presence and ultimately drive more visitors back to your site. If you already have a web site, its content should be up to date and give visitors a clear call to action, such as who to contact or how to get more information.
Bet on blogging. Blogging is the doorway to other social marketing and where businesses can likely get excellent return for the time invested. Why? Because search engines love blog content.
Manage your online reputation. Monitor sites where licensees or other customers could potentially post reviews about your organization. Reviews on sites such as Yelp, Citysearch, Insider Pages and others often influence people who are researching businesses in their local area.
Manage your online reputation. Monitor sites where licensees or other customers could potentially post reviews about your organization. Reviews on sites such as Yelp, Citysearch, Insider Pages and others often influence people who are researching businesses in their local area.
Cover more ground in less time with RSS. RSS can be thought of as two-way plumbing -- it allows users to push and pull information out and in from multiple places.
Network, network, network! If you're not working at expanding your social network, you need to be. The more people that know and hear about you, the more they can recommend it to others. Social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn are great tools to expand contacts and customer lists.
Play with new toys. Social media is constantly evolving, and there is no telling what the hot tool of tomorrow will be.
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Faithfully,
Douglas Castle
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