Green Tech Entrepreneurs Learn Lab-to-Market Path
by Carolyn Adolph and Tim Akin
Mark Twain once called Lake Tahoe the “fairest picture the whole earth affords.” Today the protection and preservation of the planet and its natural resources has floated to the top of society’s collective consciousness and concerns. Moving with that current, industry and investors have jumped aboard, casting out lines for the most promising earthfriendly technologies and ideas.
Meanwhile university researchers in a wide spectrum of fields continue to make breakthrough discoveries that could make the world a better place, but only if the advances are pushed off the lab bench and into the marketplace.
With North America’s largest alpine lake as a fitting backdrop, the UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship in March held a first-of-its-kind, one-week workshop focused on training researchers and business students on what it takes to literally bring scientific discoveries to life.
The Green Technology Entrepreneurship Academy brought together more than 40 science doctoral students, business students and professors from across the United States, to the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, a UC Davis-affiliated, stateof- the-art research facility built using best practices in green construction.
Turning Green Tech into Greenbacks
For five intensive days, faculty, tech transfer experts and mentors from the business and venture capital communities held seminars and one-on-one sessions with the entrepreneurial-minded attendees to teach them the principles of innovation and new business development. Researchers came from more than 20 top institutions, including MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They represented many different disciplines, from polymer chemistry, pharmacology and electrical engineering, to geography, architecture and economics, but all are involved in sustainability.
Andrew Hargadon, director of the entrepreneurship center and the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center, said the need for practical solutions to energy and resource conservation has become a major issue with the growing global environmental crisis.
“The challenge lies in translating environmentally sustainable technologies and research into viable business ventures,” said Hargadon, an associate professor at the Graduate School of Management and its director of technology management studies.
“For most researchers interested in bringing a product to market, the problem isn’t a lack of intelligence or ideas,” Hargadon explained. “It’s mostly a need to understand basic marketing and find the right contacts. So a little coaching can pay off big.”
The Kauffman Foundation, which works to further understanding of the powerful economic impact of entrepreneurship, provided major funding as the founding sponsor of the academy. Other sponsors included the National Science Foundation, PG&E, Sierra Angels and the UC Davis John Muir Institute of the Environment. Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons, who addressed the academy, told participants: “Science and research is only as good as our ability to bring it to the forefront of an innovative marketplace.”
Managing the Dynamics of Entrepreneurship
During the week, the researchers and MBA candidates formed teams to slash through business ideas based on cutting-edge research. They refined the winners, sought guidance from mentors and investors, and built new business plans. On the last day, teams pitched those plans to angel investors and venture capitalists, who critiqued their presentations.
UC Davis MBA student Josaphine Tuchel teamed with campus colleague Yi Zhu, a Ph.D. candidate in biological and agricultural engineering, on a business plan for an energy-efficient infrared dehydration system for fruits and vegetables. Tuchel said the Green Technology Entrepreneurship Academy took the project to a whole new level.
“There’s a great deal of value that’s added by bringing the two groups—researchers and business people—together,” Tuchel said. “When thinking about where to go next, the two types of people have different questions. You get a broader view of the situation. There are more angles.”
Beyond fine-tuning her project, Tuchel said she enjoyed the opportunity to listen and learn about others’ business ideas. “It wasn’t passive,” she said. “I got to ask the questions that would help them develop their idea better and gained new insight for myself.”
Chris Grandlic, a graduate student in the Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science at the University of Arizona, said he’ll look back at the academy as a revelation.
“Before this experience, I had a hard time imaging how to begin transferring technology into the field or market,” he said. “But now I have a list of 45 contacts that are like mentors and who I can contact for advice. Thanks to the entrepreneurship academy, I have a network and a place to start.”
Financiers also came away impressed. Investor Bob Goff, who rallied his Sierra Angels to help plan and organize the academy, said he witnessed a sea change in the researchers’ mindsets.
“The advancement in their understanding between the beginning of the workshop and the presentations at the end of the week was truly remarkable,” said Goff.
A handful of the teams piqued investors’ interest in providing potential seed funding. Hargadon said the success of this year’s academy has sparked the sponsors to support two future five-day programs on green technology. Entrepreneurial researchers want the experience and training—and there’s a growing market demand for the technology.
But bringing a good idea to fruition is no cake walk. Will Rosenzweig, co-founder of the Republic of Tea and co-founder of Physic Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund focused on health, wellness and sustainable living investments, warned of the challenges faced by innovators—even in an inviting market for green technology.
“There are always moments on the hero’s journey where you want to turn back,” Rosenzweig told participants in a keynote address halfway through the academy. “Use the principles you’re leaving with this week—how to quantify, due diligence, testing your ideas—and remember even solid ideas get turned down over and over and over again.”
Overcoming the obstacles and exploiting niches are the keys to success, he told the academy: “Most exciting business ventures happen at the intersection of converging fields— put yourself into those places.”
