Identify Licensing Opportunities
Find Research Collaboration
Engage Industry Partners
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Unlock Customer Feedback for Licensing Success
Learn about how to unlock the value of customer conversations, validate insights to drive product development, and differentiate you from the competition.
Benefits
- Strengthen your critical thinking and listening skills
- Become an effective interviewer
- Validate your ideas and assumptions about your business idea / venture
- Pivot towards an entrepreneurial mindset for customer-focused development
- Build licensor confidence
Commercialize Industry Research, Innovative Technologies
The Challenge
The assignment is envisioned to deliver a series of virtual training activities / webinars to a cohort of IP managers and technology transfer professionals on approaches to improve their business engagement and technology marketing approaches.
Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) face challenges in getting innovative technologies out into the marketplace. One issue routinely encountered has been the lack of skills and awareness by TTOs in how to interact successfully with industry to understand their needs as technology purchasers, and to understand how to identify relevant industry partners for any possible discussions on technology licensing.
A virtual training program will address this skill gap by TTOs, with an aim of educating them on how they can better gain an awareness of what potential customers and technology purchases from industry want.
Otherwise termed “Customer Discovery” (or Customer Development), the virtual training will take the form of webinars to provide TTOs with introductory guidance on how they can test their untested hypotheses about their Business Model (e.g., who are the customers for the technology, what features the ‘customer’ wants, internal resources needed, partners needed and costs, etc.). This is with the intention of the TTOs obtaining information on the fundamentals of who to talk to, how to engage with industry, what questions to ask, and how to turn responses into actionable steps. In particular, this will help educate on ways to assess who their ‘ideal’ customers are in order to help verify if their technology or product fits the appropriate market. Deliverables include number of conversations with prospective licensees; license agreements; collaborative research opportunities (revenues) and industry partnerships.
Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) face challenges in getting innovative technologies out into the marketplace. One issue routinely encountered has been the lack of skills and awareness by TTOs in how to interact successfully with industry to understand their needs as technology purchasers, and to understand how to identify relevant industry partners for any possible discussions on technology licensing.
A virtual training program will address this skill gap by TTOs, with an aim of educating them on how they can better gain an awareness of what potential customers and technology purchases from industry want.
Otherwise termed “Customer Discovery” (or Customer Development), the virtual training will take the form of webinars to provide TTOs with introductory guidance on how they can test their untested hypotheses about their Business Model (e.g., who are the customers for the technology, what features the ‘customer’ wants, internal resources needed, partners needed and costs, etc.). This is with the intention of the TTOs obtaining information on the fundamentals of who to talk to, how to engage with industry, what questions to ask, and how to turn responses into actionable steps. In particular, this will help educate on ways to assess who their ‘ideal’ customers are in order to help verify if their technology or product fits the appropriate market. Deliverables include number of conversations with prospective licensees; license agreements; collaborative research opportunities (revenues) and industry partnerships.
Benefits
Benefits:
- Focus on a viable and profitable market niche
- Target precise vertical markets, customer personas.
- Generate revenue for your institution.
- Develop key messages for investors and key audiences
- Leverage insights for iterating / pivoting business model, investor pitches and sales efforts.
Deliverables
(a) Engage with the relevant countries as needed and deliver a series of virtual trainings / webinars on a per-country basis for relevant stakeholders from TTOs in the subject matter area of Customer Discovery and as relevant to IP and technology managers from developing countries;
(b) The virtual trainings / webinars shall include
i. introductory guidance on how they can test their untested hypotheses about their Business Model;
ii. an understand and identify who are the customers for their technology and what does the ‘customer’ want or desire;
iii. information on the fundamentals of who to talk to and how to engage with industry; and
Iv. find opportunities for technology licensing, research collaboration and industry partnerships.
(c) Relevant documents or materials to support the virtual trainings / webinars, including as needed any guides or resources that may assist the country beneficiaries in their learning needs and in application of any teachings in practice.
(b) The virtual trainings / webinars shall include
i. introductory guidance on how they can test their untested hypotheses about their Business Model;
ii. an understand and identify who are the customers for their technology and what does the ‘customer’ want or desire;
iii. information on the fundamentals of who to talk to and how to engage with industry; and
Iv. find opportunities for technology licensing, research collaboration and industry partnerships.
(c) Relevant documents or materials to support the virtual trainings / webinars, including as needed any guides or resources that may assist the country beneficiaries in their learning needs and in application of any teachings in practice.
About Randy Fisher
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Randy Fisher has expert knowledge of entrepreneurship and innovation, startups and early-stage companies, angel investors and venture capital funds. He began his career as a business journalist.
He offers consulting and coaching on Customer Needs Discovery and Go-To-Market Strategy to find profitable markets and create viable businesses. He has experience in international development, ICT4D and online education. He has an extensive network in the US, Canada and globally. Read his testimonials and a case study. |
Randy S. Fisher
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Topics
As a strategic advisor / team member. we work closely to understand your customer needs and segments and actively focus on positioning you for success in the customers' mind. This includes validating your customer interviews and insights, product marketing and strategizing about business development. This includes customer / user engagement and success - working with customers as partners; knowing when to ask for a purchase order / investment in your company for all-important testimonials and references; developing an early-stage, no-frills marketing strategy for attracting investors, customers, media and key influencers.
1. Project Kickoff
- Technologies identified for Randy - Advising / Coaching
- Value Propositions per Customer Segments
- Practice Interviewing / Kickoff Interview Questions
- Curated videos provided (hyperlinks)
- Researching / Sourcing Potential Licensees - 3-5 contacts per technology
- Conduct Initial Customer Discovery Interviews (Data, Questions - script provided)
- Curated videos
- Identification of market relevance / applications
- Identification of Customer Segments
- Identification of Value Proposition per Customer Segment
- Curated videos
- Researching / Sourcing Potential Licensees (cont’d)
- Continue Discovery Interviews (script provided)
- Qualification of Market Relevance / Applications
- Customer Segments
- Value Prop per Customer Segment
- Curated videos
- TTOs shares findings with Cohort; facilitated webinar so that TTOs can learn from each other
- Feedback on Interviews / Meetings with Licensees (Data, Actionable Insights)
- Continue Discovery Interviews
- Feedback on Interviews / Meetings with Licensees (Data, Actionable Insights)
- Continue Discovery Interviews
Our Customers
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