The path to finding an experienced business leader who is capable and willing to take a university start-up forward is not easy. And when you think you’ve found “the one,” the early promise of strong leadership can be severely undercut, or even severed, by conflicts with the scientific founder of the venture. Why? Because the two leaders may have different visions or expectations for the company, or they may butt heads over key personnel, operational, or financial decisions. Whatever the underlying issue, these all-too-common conflicts pose a significant risk for the new company that your university has invested precious dollars and time into.
How can this situation be avoided or remedied? Experts agree that laying the groundwork for a more harmonious leadership match very early in the business development stage is critical. Defining needs and expectations, equity shares, exit strategies, and the benefits each role brings to the success of the business — coupled with a healthy reality check of each leader’s strengths and weaknesses – can go a long way to ensuring collegiality and, ultimately, success.
That’s why Technology Transfer Tactics’ is teaming up for this practical and strategy-filled webinar with Joy Goswami, Assistant Director of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships in the Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships at the University of Delaware. Joy will rely on his many years of experience in guiding startups and their leadership teams to bring you this one-hour program:
Here’s a quick look at what we’ll cover in this detailed session:
- Understanding your inventor’s wants, needs and ultimate goal for the business
- Recruitment techniques to land the best CEO candidates
- Where to find them
- What qualities to look for in a CEO
- Building rapport between founder and CEO
- Setting equity sharing and commercialization expectations
- What to do when the TTO must act as a mediator
- How to guide CEOs and inventors in the event of a “breakup”
Meet Your Presenter:
Joy Goswami
Assistant Director
Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships
Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships
University of Delaware
Joy oversees and manages technology transfer activities and corporate relations. He is actively involved in managing intellectual property, assisting in establishing start-up and spin-off companies and bringing forth university-industry collaborations and partnerships. He is an NIH-SBIR/STTR reviewer and has more than twelve years of experience in the field of business development in a career that has produced highly regarded commercialization and outreach strategies, focusing on novel technologies in the biotechnology, agriculture and biomedical sectors. He is a Registered Technology Transferred Professional, a USPTO Registered Patent Agent, and a Howard Bremer Scholar.
