The document describes an Entrepreneurship in Residence (EiR) program that places experienced entrepreneurs with startup companies to help ensure their success. The program finds the right people with business experience, places them in new ventures at Imperial Innovations, and ensures they join at the optimal time. EiRs fulfill roles like launching new companies, evaluating investments, and providing expertise. The program is designed to give startups access to experienced leadership as they launch and seek funding.

1. Entrepreneurship in Residence Program
FITT
(Fostering Interregional Exchange in ICT Technology Transfer)
www.FITT-for-Innovation.eu

2. Entrepreneurs-in-Residence: The essence
 Position or title typically held by an experienced entrepreneur or
business professional
 Three primary functions:
• Launch a new entrepreneurial venture
• Assist in the evaluation of potential investments
• Provide functional expertise to assist with an existing investment
 Ultimate goal: ensure a newly formed technology company that it has
access to the right person to manage it and take it forward
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3. What is EiR’s Program about?
 The EIR Program is all about finding
• the right people
• and placing them at the right place
• at the right time
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4. The right people ?
WHO ?
 Domain specific experience in a particular sector, e.g. ICT
 Good strategic thinkers
 Corporate background and/or have start-up experience
 Extended network of industrial contacts
 Looking for a new challenge
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5. The right people ?
WHERE ?
 Events: Imperial Innovations frequently attends targeted and/or themed
events and choose conferences based on technical relevance and attendees
list
 Networks: Interesting contacts via different networks
 External consultants: Services of professional headhunting agencies, when
looking for specific experience, skills or knowledge in a domain unknown to
TTO’s @ Imperial Innovations
 CV’s: Thanks to good reputation, spontaneous CV’s come in on a daily basis
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6. The right place ?
 Spend +/- 1 year on consulting various start-up companies in the
Innovations Incubator
 In general, two options after that:
• Continue to add value across the portfolio, for instance by giving advice
to different spin-offs
• Take on a full time placement in one of the newly formed ventures
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7. The right time ?
 Needs start-up team:
• Early stage ‘before the company has attracted any external funding’
• Technical risk is still very high.
• No real need for executive staff
• Research & Development costs run up, no money left to pay executive
• ‘Entrepreneurial Chair’: central task is to refine the business plan; a temporary
substitute or an affordable alternative for an official CEO
• Only once external funding is needed
• Invest in an experienced CEO and appoint him to approach potential investors
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8. When is it organized ?
 The program is organized on a continuous basis
 First 3 EiR’s < 2006
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9. Who’s involved in the program?
 The researchers: Learn commercial skills throug interaction with EiR’s, EiR’s as
coach;
 Industrial partners: EiR’s come from industry; Market led approach ICBS
 Technology Transfer Officers: Passive & active approach to look for new EiR’s
 Commercial Services: cfr Technology Transfer Officers
 New Ventures Team: cfr Technology Transfer Officers
 External Consultants: Find specific skills (<David Collingham & Chris Reichhelm)
 EiR’s: core of the program
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10. Resources?
 Quest for EiR’s is time, money and energy consuming
 15 people in total:
• TTO’s : 7 people
• Commercial Services: 3 people
• New Ventures: 5 people
 Networking is part of their day-to-day job; no clear time restrictions
 If they meet a potentially interesting EiR, they make a proposal for the
board of Imperial Innovations
 Susan Searle – chief executive of Imperial Innovations – makes the final
decision
 Once a new EiR joins the team, work can be divided
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11. Where is the program ?
 Organized internally, but EiR’s come from outside Imperial Innovations
 The underlying rationale of the program is embedded in all departments
 Most EiR’s are from UK
 London is an attractive and vibrant place to work & live
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12. Pro’s & Cons
 Pro’s
• Using existing resources – connections/relations – to improve business
• Address a common problem within TTO: Finding the right people to take a
business forward
• spin-off companies can consult very experienced people at a very low cost
 Con’s
• Time, money & energy consuming to build network
• Interaction business world & universities is normal in UK, not in continental
Europe
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13. Why ? Rationale EiR’s
 Specific requirements start-up team:
• Investors need to be convinced of the business idea
• Technology needs to be translated into market needs;
• Customer base needs to be developed …
 Someone with commercial skills & market insight; someone with the right
connections & rich experience
 inventor himself seldom has good management capabilities
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14. Why ? Impact EiR’s
 The performance of the new ventures with EIR’s as CEO can serve as proxy for
the success of the program
 Example: EiR Daniel Green
Susan Searle – chief executive of Imperial Innovations – asked Mr. Green to look around
and see whether he could find anything that could make a particularly good start-up. He
selected technology from a veteran professor, Robert Hill, and a younger researcher, Molly
Stevens, that together could form the basis of a company specialising in “smart materials
that help the body repair itself”. BioCeramic Therapeutics Ltd was founded as a small
laboratory and office in the Imperial bio-incubator unit. Within 9 months of the formation
the company already successfully raised £1.04 million. Daniel Green also succeeded in
attracting highly qualified people to the Board, like Sir Richard Sykes who was former
Chairman of pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline
 EiR’s themselves are pleased with the program as well
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15. Outcome of EiR: plans for the future
 ‘The program reinforces the program’: The more Entrepreneurs-in-Residence
Imperial Innovations can attract, the more successful it will be, the more widely
the program will be known in industrial society and the larger Imperial
Innovations’ network will become
 Imperial Innovations declares in its annual report to continue the
Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program
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16. Lessons Learned
 Looking back now, what would you …
• … do different/improve? Start sooner !
• … recommend to others? Build up a network & stay close to the
industry
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17. Suggested Readings
 Link to bibliography
 Link to code book
Entrepreneur
Knowledge relationships
Team & Network
 Link to related websites
http://www.imperialinnovations.co.uk/eceo
http://www.bioceramictherapeutics.com/people.html
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