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University startups as a commercialization alternative: lessons from three contrasting case studies

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  • Paul Swamidass

Abstract

A recent National Research Council (NRC) report (2011) recommends that universities must craft policies and allocate resources to enable more university startups because some university technologies will never be commercialized unless licensed to a startup. However, the creation of university startups requires personnel skills and programs not typically associated with an university Office of Technology Transfer (OTT). Estimates show that 75 % of university inventions are not licensed at all. The conclusions of this study include university policies to turn some them to fuel university startups. Carefully selected case studies of three contrasting universities reveal patterns of successful startup policies and performance. MIT’s case is an example of long-term success, the University of Colorado’s case is an example of medium-term success, and Auburn University’s case is an example of a new-comer to the scene. Lessons from the case studies include: the need for very early evaluation of all inventions for their startup potential, the need for pre-license seed funds through proof-of-concept programs to advance early-stage inventions to the next stage, and the need for OTT personnel skilled in enabling startups. NSF’s recent I-Corps program invests heavily in the training of potential enablers and entrepreneurs for commercializing university inventions. Based on the findings of this study, I-Corps must also invest in pre-license proof-of-concept programs to advance early-stage university inventions closer to the market. Implementing the conclusions of this study would also accomplish the recommendations of the 2011 NRC report cited above. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

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  • Paul Swamidass, 2013. "University startups as a commercialization alternative: lessons from three contrasting case studies," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(6), pages 788-808, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jtecht:v:38:y:2013:i:6:p:788-808
    DOI: 10.1007/s10961-012-9267-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Christopher S. Hayter & Andrew J. Nelson & Stephanie Zayed & Alan C. O’Connor, 2018. "Conceptualizing academic entrepreneurship ecosystems: a review, analysis and extension of the literature," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 1039-1082, August.
    2. Nils Grashof & Holger Graf, 2023. "Universities that matter for regional knowledge base renewal - the role of multilevel embeddedness," Jena Economics Research Papers 2023-009, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    3. Mariluz Fernández-Alles & Carmen Camelo-Ordaz & Noelia Franco-Leal, 2015. "Key resources and actors for the evolution of academic spin-offs," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 40(6), pages 976-1002, December.
    4. María Jesús Rodríguez-Gulías & David Rodeiro-Pazos & Sara Fernández-López & Christian Corsi & Antonio Prencipe, 2018. "The role of venture capitalist to enhance the growth of Spanish and Italian university spin-offs," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1111-1130, December.
    5. Yongchun Huang & Paul Swamidass & Dheeraj A. Raju, 2016. "The nature of innovation in emerging industries in China: an exploratory study," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 451-468, June.
    6. Bahuleyan, Athira & Chavan, Meena & Krzeminska, Anna & Chirico, Francesco, 2024. "Process and variance research: Integrating research on university spinoff evolution," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    7. Noelia Franco-Leal & Carmen Camelo-Ordaz & Juan Pablo Dianez-Gonzalez & Elena Sousa-Ginel, 2020. "The Role of Social and Institutional Contexts in Social Innovations of Spanish Academic Spinoffs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-24, January.
    8. Baharudin Kadir & Mohd Farid Shamsudin, 2019. "A Case Study Analysis of Typhidot: An Example of Market-Oriented R&D Commercialization in Malaysia," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(5), pages 75-81, August.
    9. Battaglia, Daniele & Paolucci, Emilio & Ughetto, Elisa, 2021. "Opening the black box of university Proof-of-Concept programs: Project and team-based determinants of research commercialization outcomes," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    10. James A. Cunningham & Matthias Menter & Chris Young, 2017. "A review of qualitative case methods trends and themes used in technology transfer research," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 923-956, August.
    11. Bozeman, Barry & Youtie, Jan, 2017. "Socio-economic impacts and public value of government-funded research: Lessons from four US National Science Foundation initiatives," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1387-1398.
    12. Federico Moretti, 2019. "“Open” Lab? Studying the Implementation of Open Innovation Practices in a University Laboratory," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(01), pages 1-25, February.
    13. Christopher S. Hayter & Roman Lubynsky & Spiro Maroulis, 2017. "Who is the academic entrepreneur? The role of graduate students in the development of university spinoffs," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(6), pages 1237-1254, December.
    14. Matricano, Diego, 2022. "The influence of gender on technology transfer processes managed in Italian Young Innovative Companies: A stochastic frontier analysis," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    15. Aileen Huang-Saad & Jonathan Fay & Lauren Sheridan, 2017. "Closing the divide: accelerating technology commercialization by catalyzing the university entrepreneurial ecosystem with I-Corps™," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(6), pages 1466-1486, December.
    16. Jörg Bühnemann & Bernd Neutschel, 2014. "Universitäre Transferstruktur im Wandel - OvGU als regionaler Impulsgeber," FEMM Working Papers 140001, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    17. Jason Coupet & Yuhao Ba, 2022. "Benchmarking university technology transfer performance with external research funding: a stochastic frontier analysis," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 605-620, April.
    18. Jan Youtie & Philip Shapira, 2017. "Exploring public values implications of the I-Corps program," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(6), pages 1362-1376, December.
    19. Zhou, Junbi & Wang, Mingyue, 2023. "The role of government-industry-academia partnership in business incubation: Evidence from new R&D institutions in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    20. Battaglia, Daniele & Paolucci, Emilio & Ughetto, Elisa, 2021. "The role of Proof-of-Concept programs in facilitating the commercialization of research-based inventions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(6).
    21. Insu Cho & Young Hoon Kwak & Jaehyeon Jun, 2019. "Sustainable Idea Development Mechanism in University Technology Commercialization (UTC): Perspectives from Dynamic Capabilities Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-16, November.
    22. Kalantaridis, Christos & Küttim, Merle, 2023. "Multi-dimensional time and university technology commercialisation as opportunity praxis: A realist synthesis of the accumulated literature," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    23. Hsu, David W.L. & Shen, Yung-Chi & Yuan, Benjamin J.C. & Chou, Chiyan James, 2015. "Toward successful commercialization of university technology: Performance drivers of university technology transfer in Taiwan," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 25-39.
    24. Link, Albert & Sarala, Riikka, 2019. "Advancing Conceptualization of University Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: The Role of Knowledge-based Entrepreneurial Firms," UNCG Economics Working Papers 19-1, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    University spinoffs and startups; Proof of concept (POC); Technology development stages; Management of innovation; Technology transfer; NSF I-Corps program; Auburn University; MIT; The University of Colorado; Stanford University; M13;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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