Technology Scouting and IP Strategy

Question 1

What are the 2 types of technology transfer?

Answer 1

Horizontal and Vertical

Question 2

What is vertical technology transfer

Answer 2

This occurs when information is transmitted from basic research to applied research to development and then to production

Question 3

what is horizontal technology transfer

Answer 3

this is when tehcnology used in 1 place or organisation is transferred and used in another place or organisation

Question 4

give an example of horizontal technology transfer

Answer 4

Giving poor developing countries energy generating devices

Question 5

What does the term diffusion mean?

Answer 5

This is the adoption of innovations in the market place, eg the new tech diffuses into the market

Question 6

What is the general shape and trend in technology diffusion, and why is it like this?

Answer 6

• Generally adoption takes an S shape
• More recently the curves are getting shorter and much steeper
• this is because the timeframe that products take to get to market is significantly reducing
• also because theres more disposable income
• and products have gotten better at meeting consume demands

Question 7

What 3 elements make up technology scounting?

Answer 7

1) Identifying new emerging technologies
2) Channelling technology related information into organisations
3) Supporting the acquisition of new technologies

Question 8

What does technology scouting aim to do?

Answer 8

Speed up the transfer of technology, to get it to market quicker, to upscale new innovations and get big companies involved.
It gives firms a competitive advantage

Question 9

What does the structure of technology scouting look like?

Answer 9

1) Defining aims of the company and areas to search for new tech
2) select information sources like universities and methods to employ them
3) collect data of all the tech they are innovating
4) filter the data to find the best techs
5) Decide on the projects that could go to market
6) Source and fund these projects to get them to market asap

Question 10

Why do big companies ensure they have a big tech scouting network

Answer 10

• To make sure they dont miss out of up and coming tech innovations that could be harmful to their market share
• It keeps their competitive advantage

Question 11

What are the 4 types of technology scouts

Answer 11

matrix (x-axis full time and part time)(y-axis internal and external)
TL: Fulltime internally employed team or sector
BL: Fulltime externally employed business
TR: Part time internally employed team
BR: Part time externally employed often universities
They all work for the full time internal business sector of the large corporation

Question 12

What are the benefits of technology scouting:

Answer 12

1) Early identification of technologies and trends
2) Raises awareness of threats and opportunities to your market share
3) Stimulation of innovation
4) Facilitates the raise of external technologies through big companies

Question 13

What is closed innovation?

Answer 13

this is a process of innovation the traditional style where a single company has control over the entire innovation process, keeping the IP out of external reach (secret)

Question 14

What are the shortcomings of closed innovation?

Answer 14

• Slow innovation process
• High levels of patent costs
• Ideas that arn’t taken up get wasted and thrown away
• Larger risk to companies because they need to allocate more resources and plan for the long term

Question 15

What is open innovation?

Answer 15

Open innovation is permitting the free flow of an organisations internal knowledge and benefiting from external innovation
- Its about exchanging knowledge between business partners, universities, customers

Question 16

Does open innovation use IP strategy?

Answer 16

yes, but the companies with the IP rights share their rights through allocating licenses and agreeing to joint ownerships with other companies for innovations

Question 17

Explain the open innovation funnel?

Answer 17

This is an open funnel model, where a company not only developes their own innovations to bring to market but uses external technology insourcing, licenses out their ideas to help other markets etc

Question 18

Give an example of an open innovation

Answer 18

• Lego Creators, where people send in their own innovations which get created at Lego and sold.

Question 19

What are the 4 key areas an investor looks in a business plan>

Answer 19

1) Is there any value in the business plan and product
2) Is the idea behind the product or service protected
3) Does the market actually have demand for this product/service, is it proven through orders?
4) Is the business model scalable

Question 20

Why bother making a funding strategy

Answer 20

• To maintain continuity of funding
• its part of a credible business strategy
• increase likelihood of raising funds
• right source at the right time

Question 21

What make up the 2 stages of sound financial planning:

Establishing and developing

Answer 21

Establishing:
- Knowing how much investement is needed
- Knowing when you will need the money
- Knowing when the money will be available to you
- Knowing ROI
Developing:
- Creating a detailed cashflow forecast
- Creating a sales and working capital forecast
- Potential funding sources

Question 22

How do u work out ROI?

Answer 22

annual net profit/total investment *100

Question 23

What is an angel investor?

Answer 23

This is a rich individual who has the capital and will invest

Question 24

Describe the start up financing cycle

Answer 24

This is a graph of revenue vs time

• Initially the project is in the negative (valley of death) due to start up costs, this is pulled through by investors
• The project eventually breaks even, before going through growth
• Eventually the company will be large enough to do an IPO, where the share holders can sell out if they want

Question 25

What are the benefits and cons of raising equity with crowd funds?

Answer 25

\+ Brand loyalty
\+ Build a community as the company grows
\+ Easier to raise money
\+ Exposure
\+ Your in control rather than investors
\+ Easier pitching process
- Cant be stealthy
- Risk of public failure
- $1Mill per year limit
- Full information discolsure/transparency

Question 26

What are the benefits and cons of raising money privately through angel investors?

Answer 26

\+ Option to be stealthy
\+ Lots of powerful connections
\+ They offer expertise
\+ No limit to raise amount
- Difficult to get an angel investor
- Higher barrier to entry (business must be developed)
- Pressure to monetise early
- less control and negotiating power

Question 27

What is an IP strategy

Answer 27

• The development of a course of actions that utilises IP to enable a company to sustainably get a competitive advantage, higher market share and lower costs