Physicists are very smart people. Still, when it comes to moving their ideas from university to market, they often lack the basic set of know-hows that could help them succeed in the technology transfer process. To fill this gap, Entrepreneurship for Physicists: A Practical Guide to Move Ideas from University to Market offers a concise analysis of the key ingredients that enable entrepreneurs to bring added value to their customers. After a short discussion on why university physicists should pay more attention to this aspect of their professional life, the book dives into a set of theories, models, and tools that could help an academic scientist transform an idea into customer added value. The reader will be introduced to effectuation theory, internal resource analysis, external landscape analysis, value capture, lean startup method, business canvases, financial projections, and to a series of topics that, albeit often neglected, do play a fundamental role in technology transfer, such as trust, communication, and persuasion. In the last chapter, the book explains howmost of the concepts discussed actually find application in the career of scientists in a much broader sense.

There are hidden laws at work in every aspect of your business. Understand them, and you can create extraordinary growth. Ignore them, and you run the risk of becoming another statistic. It's become almost cliche: 8 out of every 10 new ventures fail. Of the ones that succeed, how many truly thrive-for the long run? And of those that thrive, how many continually overcome their growth hurdles ... and ultimately scale, with meaning, purpose, and profitability? The answer, sadly, is not many. Author Lex Sisney is on a mission to change that picture. After more than a decade spent leading and coaching high-growth technology companies, Lex discovered that the companies that thrive do so in accordance with 6 Laws - universal principles that govern the success or failure of every individual, team, and organization.

KEY BENEFIT Essential business lessons for turning today's scientists and engineers into entrepreneurs in new technology companies. In today's global and interconnected world, students with a science or engineering background have ample opportunity to mesh their technical know-how with the free market. Yet, these same students lack the basic business skills to make competent business decisions. This book seeks to make students' first experience with entrepreneurship interesting and useful. KEY TOPICS Technology Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers; Developing and Protecting Intellectual Property; Technology Entrepreneurship Strategy; Start-up Financial Strategy As the source of new discoveries and technologies, scientists and engineers are uniquely positioned to launch new business ventures based on cutting-edge discoveries. This book will teach those with no prior training how to start a company and grow their business through marketing and astute team building techniques.

“Captures the basic laws of growth companies and creates a new formula for success.” —Richard A. D’Aveni, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College Organic business growth is governed by its own natural laws—underlying truths that set the stage for growth and innovation, much in the way that Einstein’s theory of relativity accounts for the movement of objects in the space-time continuum. The most fundamental law is that uncertainty is the only certainty. Dominating forces are ambiguity and change; the processes at work involve exploration, invention, and experimentation. Unfortunately, these truths run counter to the principles of stability, predictability, and linearity that have long informed the design of our firms. The Physics of Business Growth explains how to create growth in today’s business environment, providing a roadmap and a set of practical tools to navigate its challenges. The book lays out a three-step formula that will prove invaluable to professionals who have the opportunity to influence growth now, as well as to tomorrow’s growth leaders, guiding them in (1) creating the right employee and organizational mindsets to enable growth, (2) building an internal corporate growth system, and (3) putting in place processes that result in identifying opportunities, launching growth experiments, and managing a growth portfolio. “Avoids the trap of magical thinking, which glosses over the messiness and complexity involved in growing a business. Rather, they offer a robust toolkit that growth leaders can adapt to their own circumstances.” —J. M. Ryan, Senior Fellow, Wharton Executive Education

Being a scientist has changed dramatically in recent times. Through patenting and commercialization, scientists today can develop their work beyond a publication in a learned journal. Indeed, universities and governments are encouraging today's scientists and engineers to break their research out of the laboratory and into the commercial world. However, doing so is complicated and can be daunting for those more used to a research seminar than a boardroom. Start-ups are journeys into uncertainty and entrepreneurs are individuals who are comfortable with uncertainty, thrive on challenges and are prepared to take risks. This book, written by experienced scientists and entrepreneurs, deals with businesses started by scientists based on innovation and sets out to clarify for scientists and engineers the steps necessary to take an idea along the path to commercialization and maximize the potential for success, regardless of the path taken. The difference between a scientist and an entrepreneur is discussed as is the consequence to an enterprise of misunderstanding this difference. The various roles in which an entrepreneur can act are discussed, as are the types of business that a scientist can start. The concept of patent protection is explained as is the process of applying for a patent. The authors take the reader through the need for a business plan and give examples of how such a plan might look. Fundraising is discussed at length with attention focussed on sources of funding and the technique of 'pitching' for funds. Managing a start-up is explored and the function and roles within the management team are discussed.

"When you are doing something that is a brand new adventure, breaking new ground, whether it is something like a techno logical breakthrough or simply a way of living that is not what the community can help you with, there is always the danger of too much enthusiasm, of neglecting certain mechan ical details. Then you fall off. 'A danger path this is. ' When you follow the path of your desire and enthusiasm and emotion, keep your mind in control, and don't let it pull you compulsively into disaster. " Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth Through ten years of working with and observing scientists in the bio medical fields, I have found Joseph Campbell's words to be especially applicable to the scientist who decides to embark on an entrepreneurial journey. Joseph Campbell was not a student of entrepreneurship. His scholarship was contained in a series of comprehensive studies of mythology, the captivating stories of mankind's search over the ages for truth, meaning and significance. Still, his advice here contains many of the essential ingredients of successful science-based venturing: the charting of new ground socially, technological breakthroughs, enthusiasm and emotion balanced by careful reasoning, and finally, awareness of the danger of neglecting details. Coming from such a different philosophical and occupational culture into entrepreneurship and business, the scientist faces extraordinary challenges although the rewards of putting together a successful company can be equally satisfying.