NEW RECRUITS AT BUSINESS BOOT CAMP
Scientists seeking market success have lessons to learn

Protecting intellectual property and fostering economic development are anathema no more in higher education. Increasingly, top universities are encouraging faculty and staff to capitalize on their own discoveries.

But for some university scientists curious about the market potential of their research, the transition from successful academic to entrepreneur can be a tough one.

Research at LSU offers tremendous opportunity for business development

Jason Boudreaux of the Louisiana Business and Technology Center, or LBTC, thinks he knows why.

“Researchers speak a scientific language. They have a difficult time taking the science and turning it into language investors, bankers, and business consultants can understand.” Boudreaux, a business counselor and graduate of LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, credits his medical background with helping to bridge the language gap.

A second hurdle for researchers may be their own expectations. “People are always excited about their inventions and innovation,” said Boudreaux. “What we do is instill a little reality about the process it takes to go from invention to [market].”

Supported by LBTC’s varied business services, a growing number of LSU scientists have seen this process through, spinning original research into companies like Esperance Pharmaceuticals, Mezzo Systems, and BioJenc. But as Boudreaux cautions, “Great science does not always equal a great commercial product.”

LBTC Executive Director Charlie D’Agostino knows what challenges face the market-minded scientist. In the last eighteen years, his office has assisted over 4,700 start-up companies, many of them initiated by LSU faculty. He is frank in his assessment. “The typical researcher knows exactly what’s going on in his test tubes, but he doesn’t know anything about business. That’s where our office comes in.”

Call it tough love for the Ivory Tower. LBTC calls it Boot Camp.

Twice each summer, the LBTC offers intensive, all-day sessions helping university scientists and others to enter the business world and avoid its pitfalls. “Business Boot Camp I, Basic Training” drills on getting a start-up off the ground. Participants learn to draft business plans, assemble effective management teams, and utilize local resources. A cadre of successful entrepreneurs guides the discussion and doles out tough love as necessary.

As D’Agostino puts it, “The golf pro tells you what you’re doing wrong and what you’ve got to do right. You need to say ‘OK, I’m going to do what he tells me.’ Generally, that will help your game.”

Session Two of the Business Boot Camp covers finance and market research, advanced topics tailored to entrepreneurs who are closer to their commercial goals. Participants in this session tend to be more progressive and seeking higher growth, attractive qualities to large equity investors.

Though Boudreaux admits LBTC’s Business Boot Camps can be “very tiring,” the rewards of such training are substantial. For the researcher, a successful market venture can provide additional income, job satisfaction and deeper roots in the local community. In turn this benefits the university. “We’re going to retain better faculty,” notes D’Agostino, “and certainly it will help us recruit better researchers. If you want to come here and turn those research grants into commercial ventures, you can do that. That’s a great message for bringing in top scientists.”

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from Summer 2007 Issue