Case Study: New Start-Up

Problem & Constraints

• Brilliant inexperienced Inventor
• Current plan poor; yet valuable technology
• Board unsuccessful guiding him through business issues
• CEO needed/Inventor nervous and insecure about losing control of “his” technology
• Technology resides in “Inventor’s head” not well-documented

Engagement

• Take company lead as acting-CEO
• Develop new plan, fundraising documents, flesh-out team
• Institutionalize Inventor’s knowledge; further develop R&D/NPD capabilities
• Build cohesive team in general
• Hit company developmental milestones

Engagement Actions

• Inventor became CTO; CEO became his mentor
• Developed new business model/plan
• Created new IP strategy; recruiting strategies
• Built Research & Product Development teams to support Inventor
• Raise venture equity to carry through plan milestones

Results

• Raised needed (per business plan) levels of equity
• Built team to plan requirements
• Institutionalized Inventor knowledge – who re-focused on development
• Developed 23 new patents
• Hit all milestones during plan (and extensions of plan) period