Lecture 18 - Business Plans

Question 1

What are the pros of licensing the IP to Industry?

Answer 1

• Can bypass need to form a company and raise money (licensed from Uni/ MRI)
  - Larger sums of money likely to be invested in development
  - Commercial imperative should speed development
  Quality data generation

Question 2

What are the cons of licensing the IP to industry?

Answer 2

○ Overall control likely to be in hands of pharma
○ Project will compete with others and may be dropped
○ Your place in the pecking order might slip if results slip
- May not get data back if contract terminated

Question 3

What are the pros to spin-out company to hold IP?

Answer 3

○ Retain overall control of your project and its direction
○ You decide when to continue, pause or quit
○ Your pay off in the event of success may be larger
You retain data and choices

Question 4

What are the cons of spin-out company to hold IP?

Answer 4

○ Running a company poses more challenges than licensing
○ You have to find the money for development
○ Investors, particularly VCs will want board seats and perhaps control
Investors and VCs want an exit

Question 5

What are the reasons to have a business plan?

Answer 5

• As an internal document to show the board of directors you know what you’re doing
  
  • As an external document to show investors you know what you’re doing
    As a planning document to figure out what you’re doing

Question 6

What does a pitch pack include (today’s business plan)

Answer 6

§ Cover slide with tag line
			§ The problem
			§ Your solution
			§ The market opportunity
			§ Your team
			§ Competitive analysis
			§ Business Model
			§ Financial data and projections
			§ The Ask
			§ Closing slide