2. The Funding Dilemma:
More than a Double Edged Sword
• Resources Strapped
– People/Skills
– Place/Tools
– Money
• Low Signal to Noise Ratio
– Conflicting Advice
– Meaningful Feedback
• Endless Sense of Urgency
3. The LEAN Start-Up Invasion
• The MVP
• Early Customer Validation
• More with MUCH less
– Do you have a paying customer for your one
prototype?
• Use of Incubators/Accelerators
– Like-minded community driven networks
• Fail small and fast
4. Help is on the Way!
• People/Network
– Mentors/Advisors
– Contract Services
– Interns and Co-Ops
• Place/Tools
– Incubators/Accelerators
– Research Institutions
– Design and Manufacturing
• Money
– Competitions
– Grants and Grant Match
– Strategic Partners
5. M2D2 Resources
• Start-up friendly space
– Short term, scalable leases
– Like-minded community
• Access to the larger community
– Large Corporations
– Industry support experts
– Events
• Bolts to Clinical Trials
• Competition
– Marketing
– Validation
6. UMass Partnership
• Materials Characterization, Analysis, Selection
• Design and Prototyping
• Testing and Verification
• Surgeons with Ideas
• Partnership with Pre-Clinical Investigators
• Large animal testing/clinical trial facilities
Lowell: Engineering Expertise
Worcester: Clinical Expertise
Lowell: Business Expertise
• Opportunity Assessment, Business Planning
• Market Identification, Analysis
• Integration into Graduate Courses
7. New Venture Support
• Other University Resource Access
– Core Research Facilities
– Corporate Collaborators
– Testing and Research Partners for Grants
• Market Validation and Research
• Mentor and Advisor Identification/
Introduction
• Pre-Seed Funding
8. Accelerators and Competition–
Choose Wisely
• M2D2 New Venture Competition
• MassChallenge
• Merrimack Valley Sandbox
• Venture-Style and Corporate
Sponsored
• Is the award worth the time/diversion
• Are there stings attached
• Are they experts in your space or can they get you to
people who are
9. Are Grants the Answer?
• Moment Fund @ UMass Medical
• MSLC
• SBIR/STTR and State Matching
• Do they distract or validate your effort
• Do you have what it takes to win
• Does it fit within your timeline
10. Strategic Partnerships
• Can accelerate innovation, reduce costs and
provide a future sales/marketing channel and a
path to exit
• More than 70% fail over time; only 10% deliver on
original expectations (Ogilvy&Mather)
• Corporate BD, Open Innovation, Corporate VC
11. Do Your Homework
• Target
– Pipeline and focus fit
– The ‘soft’ stuff
– Would I marry this guy?
Make the case: Can this be a mutual
beneficial relationship?
12. Deep Dive
Before the outreach:
• Know your potential partner completely and how
you are/should be connected
• Know what you want from the relationship and
what’s in it for the partner
– Be specific, but flexible
– Plan with key milestones
• Have an internal lead, but coordinate with the
entire team
13. Engage
• Use your network
• Hear and understand what your partner
likes and needs – does it fit with your goals
• No today doesn’t mean no forever
• Don’t kiss a 1,000 frogs – word gets around
14. Manage the Partnership
• Formalize your relationship
• What does the end look like
• Build/add where necessary
• Set up a joint work stream for major
milestones – how will the relationship
work, who does what and when
