Be a Better Negotiator

February 27, 2010 in Negotiations | No comments

Being a great negotiator takes discipline. Below is a list of guidelines for success created from experience negotiating technology licensing agreements, and interacting with business development professionals.

Never fall in love with a deal
Whether we admit it or not, almost all decision making is done at an emotional level, with facts and data used to rationalize the decision. That may not be so bad when buying a car, but business deals need to be as emotionlessly calculated as humanly possible. You must be prepared to walk away. Falling in love with a deal can lead to what is known as the “winner’s curse.” Bidding high to win a deal leads to the winner overpaying. Let judgment win over emotion.

Don’t believe the numbers
They’re wrong. No matter how scientifically derived the financial projections are…they’re wrong. You need to know the potential of what you’re buying, but don’t give the numbers too much credit. Read the rest of this entry »

Peer 2 Peer Angel Investing: The Future of Funding Startups?

January 10, 2010 in Angel, P2P, Social Impact | 2 comments

I have a friend who is staring her own business. It’s a for-profit social impact enterprise. As a result, the financial returns she aspires to achieve are lower than a typical startup’s, and she’s struggling to attract investors. Creating an enterprise that aims to generate social benefit as well as financial benefit requires a specific type of investor that is rare. That is to say, there are few entities willing to make a large investment in a company without the potential of a large return on investment. But there are lots of people interested in making social change, and in backing it financially. Most people make some sort of charitable donation each year. Perhaps these people and their social change-seeking dollars could be channeled towards people like my friend. Read the rest of this entry »

Off to Duke to get my MBA!

July 29, 2008 in Duke | No comments

I’m heading to Duke’s Fuqua school of business to get my MBA. I’ve put most of my Innovance work on hold while I’m at school, so there will probably be few updates. I’m enrolled in the school’s Health Sector Management program, where I hope to learn more about commercializing early stage medical technologies. For more information on the Health Sector Management program, click the image below.

Click for more info on Fuqua’s HSM program

New Technology Transfer Clients in South America

August 11, 2007 in Client, Tech Transfer, ipXpress | 1 comment

Partnering with Russ Bown of ipXpress http://www.ip-xpress.com/, I have been working with international technology management organizations, helping them move beyond a regional or national focus, and establish collaborations with international commercial development partners.

I have helped Russ expand ipXpress’ business to South America, and will be working with two new clients there: NEOS http://www.neos.cl/ in Santiago, Chile, and Inova Unicamp in Campinas, Brazil http://www.inova.unicamp.br/site/06/english.php.

NEOS – Pioneering Tech Transfer in Chile
Technology transfer is extremely new in Chile, and NEOS is the country’s leading tech transfer organization. It is rare for Chilean universities to have their own office of technology licensing (OTL), and NEOS generally acts as a national OTL, working directly with inventors at several different research institutions. Read the rest of this entry »

StrataGent Closes 16 M Series B Financing

May 12, 2007 in Client, StrataGent | No comments

Innovance client, StrataGent Life Sciences has just closed a $16M round of funding. I’ve been involved with this company since my Stanford days, and am really thrilled to be able to help them develop and find success.

Congratulations StrataGent!

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stratagent-life-sciences-inc-closes-16-million-series-b-financing-58084402.html

Innovance Client Musicianlink Enables Real-Time “Jamming” Over The Internet

April 21, 2007 in Client, MusicianLink | No comments

A new startup, MusicianLink, is poised to bring a revolutionary new service to the millions of people around the world who play a musical instrument. MusicianLink’s low latency internet music collaboration system will be the first commercial solution to enable real-time musical interaction over a standard broadband internet connection. Musicians will be able to plug a standard instrument into their computer, find other musicians around the world, and jam together in real-time with the end result sounding like they were all in the same room.

MusicianLink’s technology is based on research done at Stanford by Professor Chris Chafe, the director of Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) and Co-Founder of MusicianLink. Read the rest of this entry »

NetworkSound Launches Mamba Digital Snake

March 26, 2007 in Client, NetworkSound | No comments

NetworkSound, an Innovance client, has recently launched a new product line, the Mamba digital snake. This is a very big step for the company, because it is the first NetworkSound branded product. NetworkSound is a technology focused company, that normally follows an OEM model, providing technology for the products of other companies (see http://blog.innovanceconsulting.com/2007/03/gibson-launches-hd-6x-pro-digital.html).

The product is a digital snake, a Cat-5 digital replacement for the bundle of analog cables, typically known as a snake (pictured below), that runs from a stage the the front of house mixer. Read the rest of this entry »

Gibson Launches HD 6X Pro Digital Guitar with CAT-5 Ouput Provided by NetworkSound

December 1, 2006 in Client, NetworkSound | 1 comment

NetworkSound, an Innovance client, is a spinout of 3COM that designs and manufactures products for synchronized delivery of high quality digital audio, video and control data over a standard Cat-5 cable for the professional audio and video markets. Their technology enables audio/video networks, where media is piped, in real time, over the same Cat-5 ethernet cable that connects computer networks.

Their first product is the core component of this newly launched digital guitar. The guitar combines a classic Gibson Les Paul with a revolutionary digital output. Read the rest of this entry »

New Client: StrataGent Life Sciences

February 12, 2006 in Client, StrataGent | No comments

Innovance has begun working with a company called StrataGent life sciences. StrataGent is developing a needle-free device that painlessly delivers drug with an onset comparable to injection. The company’s core technology is a pulsed liquid microjet that was invented at Stanford University. Their device works by creating a small, high pressure jet of liquid that penetrates the outer layer of the skin and precisely deposits drugs into the epidermis (the top layer of skin), enabling rapid absorption by the body, while avoiding the pain receptors that lie below in the dermis. The device can be used to deliver injectable drugs without requiring a change in formulation

I will be helping drive the company’s strategy by identifying which markets to apply the technology to, evaluating competitive threats and clarifying the regulatory and reimbursement path.

To read more about the device visit:
http://otl.stanford.edu/about/brainstorm/1203_stratagent.html