Chemistry Entrepreneurship

Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1 We Need An Entrepreneurial Culture in Chemistry: Do You Have What It Takes to be a Chemistry Entrepreneur?
1.1 Introduction: Disruptive Innovation in Chemistry is in High Demand
1.2 Examples of Innovation in Chemistry Catching the Eye of the Mainstream Market
1.2.1 Food and Nutrition
1.2.1.1 Just (formerly Hampton Creek)
1.2.1.2 Impossible Foods
1.2.1.3 Perfect Day
1.2.1.4 Endless West (formerly Ava Winery)
1.2.2 Sustainable/Renewable Chemistry
1.2.2.1 Ginkgo Bioworks
1.2.2.2 Modern Meadow
1.2.2.3 Genomatica
1.2.2.4 Zymergen
1.2.3 Biotech/Pharma
1.2.3.1 Moderna Therapeutics
1.2.3.2 Unity Biotechnology
1.2.3.3 CRISPR Therapeutics, Intellia Therapeutics, and Editas Medicine
1.2.4 Diagnostics
1.2.4.1 23andme
1.2.4.2 Grail Diagnostics
1.2.4.3 Viome
1.2.5 Cautionary Tales
1.2.5.1 Theranos
1.2.5.2 Solazyme (TerraVia)
1.3 Unique Challenges for Chemistry Entrepreneurs
1.3.1 The Most Important Trait of Every Chemical Entrepreneur
1.3.2 Chemistry Accelerators, Incubators, and Academic Spin‐offs
1.3.3 Do Something, do Anything, even if it is Wrong
1.3.3.1 Penicillin
1.3.3.2 Post‐It
1.3.3.3 Saccharin
1.3.3.4 Teflon
1.3.3.5 Viagra
1.3.4 You have your Discovery; now you need a Patent
1.3.4.1 Provisional Patent
1.3.4.2 Patent Application
1.3.4.3 Patent Prosecution
1.3.4.4 Structure of the Patent Claims
1.3.4.5 Patent Search and Prior Art
1.3.4.6 Publishing Before Patenting
1.3.4.7 PCT International Patent
1.3.4.8 Protectable Patent Value
1.3.4.9 Selecting the Wrong Lawyer for the Job
1.4 Invention is Only the Beginning of Creating a Company
1.4.1 Know your Role: Founding CEO vs. Founder vs. Inventor
1.4.2 Raising Money: Acquiring the Right Money at the Right Time
1.4.2.1 Self‐funding
1.4.2.2 Friends and Family
1.4.2.3 Angel Investors
1.4.2.4 Accelerators and Incubators
1.4.2.5 Debt
1.4.2.6 Strategic Investment
1.4.2.7 Private Equity
1.4.2.8 Venture Capital
1.4.2.9 Investment Banks
1.4.3 Can you get the idea for Commercialization?
1.4.4 When you are Ready to Commercialize, which path do you take?
1.4.4.1 Licensing Deal
1.4.4.2 Business‐to‐Business (B2B)
1.4.4.3 Business‐to‐Consumer (B2C)
1.5 Do you have the Traits of an Entrepreneur?
1.6 Summary: Do You Have What It Takes?
Recommended Readings and References
Author Biography
Chapter 2 Taking Ideas Out of the Lab: Why and When to Start a Company in the Biomedical Field
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Company Case Studies: Interviews with the Founding Scientists
2.2.1 Advanced Inhalation Research: Interview with David Edwards
2.2.1.1 Core Technology
2.2.1.2 What was the Key Problem and Initial Idea that Sparked the Work?
2.2.1.3 Why was it Important to Start Advanced Inhalation Research?
2.2.1.4 When was the Technology Ready to Start Advanced Inhalation Research?
2.2.1.5 What Lessons Did You Learn Through This Process?
2.2.1.6 Current Status
2.2.2 Kala Pharmaceuticals: Interview with Justin Hanes
2.2.2.1 Core Technology
2.2.2.2 What was the Key Problem and Initial Idea that Sparked the Work?
2.2.2.3 Why was it Important to Start Kala Pharmaceuticals?
2.2.2.4 When was the Technology Ready to Start Kala Pharmaceuticals?
2.2.2.5 What Lessons Did You Learn Through This Process?
2.2.2.6 Current Status
2.2.3 Moderna: Interview with Derrick Rossi
2.2.3.1 Core Technology
2.2.3.2 What was the Key Problem and Initial Idea that Sparked the Work?
2.2.3.3 Why was it Important to Start Moderna?
2.2.3.4 When was the Technology Ready to Start Moderna?
2.2.3.5 What Lessons Did You Learn Through This Process?
2.2.3.6 Current Status
2.2.4 Sigilon Therapeutics: Interview with Arturo Vegas
2.2.4.1 Core Technology
2.2.4.2 What was the Key Problem and Initial Idea that Sparked the Work?
2.2.4.3 Why was it Important to Start Sigilon?
2.2.4.4 When was the Technology Ready to Start Sigilon?
2.2.4.5 What Lessons Did You Learn Through This Process?
2.2.4.6 Current Status
2.2.5 Suono Bio: Interview with Carl Schoellhammer
2.2.5.1 Core Technology
2.2.5.2 What was the Key Problem and Initial Idea that Sparked the Work?
2.2.5.3 Why was it Important to Start Suono Bio?
2.2.5.4 When was the Technology Ready to Start Suono Bio?
2.2.5.5 What Lessons Did You Learn Through This Process?
2.2.5.6 Current Status
2.2.6 Vivtex: Interview with Thomas von Erlach
2.2.6.1 Core Technology
2.2.6.2 What was the Key Problem and Initial Idea that Sparked the Work?
2.2.6.3 Why was it Important to Start Vivtex?
2.2.6.4 When was the Technology Ready to Vivtex?
2.2.6.5 What Lessons Did You Learn Through This Process?
2.2.6.6 Current Status
2.3 Why Start a Company?
2.3.1 To Have the Largest Impact on Patients
2.3.2 To Introduce a New Platform Technology
2.3.3 Is Licensing an Alternative?
2.3.3.1 Licensing to Existing Companies
2.3.3.2 Corporate‐sponsored Academic Research
2.4 When to Start a Company?
2.4.1 Is There Enough In Vivo Validation?
2.4.2 Was a Patent Filed?
2.4.3 Was a Paper Published?
2.5 The Secret Ingredient: Who and What?
2.5.1 Who Will Start the Company?
2.5.1.1 Seasoned Mentors as Co‐founders
2.5.1.2 Finding a Great CEO
2.5.2 What Will the Company Actually Sell?
2.6 Summary: Lessons Learned
2.6.1 Lesson 1: Work on a High‐impact, Platform Technology
2.6.2 Lesson 2: Patent Early and Broadly
2.6.3 Lesson 3: Keep the Tech in the Lab as Long as Possible
2.6.4 Lesson 4: Must have in vivo Efficacy and Safety
2.6.5 Lesson 5: Publish in Top Scientific Journals
2.6.6 Lesson 6: Partner with Seasoned Entrepreneurs
Further Reading
Author Biographies
Chapter 3 In Pursuit of New Product Opportunities: Transferring Technology from Lab to Market
3.1 Introduction
3.1.1 Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer
3.1.2 Pursuing Commercial Product/Service Opportunities via Technology Transfer
3.1.3 A Model for Entrepreneurship via Technology Transfer
3.1.4 Extracting Technologies from Research Institutions
3.2 Technology Discovery and Development
3.2.1 Origins of Technology
3.2.2 Technology Transfer Communication Models
3.2.3 Transitioning Technologies into Products
3.2.4 Timing Technology with Industry Acceptance
3.3 Customer Discovery and Development
3.3.1 Origins of Market Demand and Unmet Needs
3.3.2 Identifying a Technology's Uses
3.3.3 The Value Chain for Target Applications
3.3.4 Identifying Stakeholders in the Value Chain
3.3.5 Designing Product Experiments
3.3.6 Customer Discovery and Validation Model
3.3.6.1 Customer Routines Analysis
3.4 Case Study: The Naval Research Laboratory's Self‐Decontaminating Material
3.4.1 The Challenge
3.4.2 The Scientist
3.4.3 The Problem
3.4.4 The Solution
3.4.5 The Future of the Technology and Future Applications
3.4.6 Technology Background and Advantages
3.4.7 Benefits
3.4.8 Problem
3.4.9 Technical Approach
3.4.10 Solution
3.4.11 Industrial Safety and Hygiene
3.4.12 Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals
3.4.13 First Response
Suggested Reading and Resources
Author Biography
Chapter 4 Financing and Business Development for Hard Tech Startups
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Challenges in Financing Hard Tech Startups
4.2.1 Balancing Ambition with Reality
4.2.2 Hard Tech Sure Is Not Software
4.2.3 Hard Tech Investors Are a Skeptical Bunch
4.2.4 What Do You Mean I Will Not Exit for $1B?
4.2.5 Hard Tech Fundraising Dissonance
4.3 Fundraising the Right Way
4.3.1 What Kind of Investors Should You Raise from?
4.3.1.1 Friends and Family
4.3.1.2 Angels
4.3.1.3 Early‐Stage Institutional Venture Capitalists
4.3.1.4 Late‐Stage Institutional Venture Capitalists
4.3.1.5 Corporate Venture Capital
4.3.2 Venture Capital Uncovered
4.3.2.1 Fund Life
4.3.2.2 Return the Fund
4.3.2.3 The Mythical 10× and Why It Is Important to You
4.3.3 How to Generate Interest from Investors?
4.3.3.1 Team
4.3.3.2 Differentiated Technology and Customer Value Proposition
4.3.3.3 Large Target Market
4.3.3.4 Compelling Plan to Build a Business
4.4 The Case for Early‐Stage Business Development
4.4.1.1 Playbook for Early‐Stage Business Development
4.4.1.2 Getting Started
4.4.1.3 Getting to the Finish Line
4.4.1.4 Avoiding Common Pitfalls
4.5 Summary
Suggested Reading
Author Biographies
Chapter 5 Battery Entrepreneurship: Gameboard from Lab to Market
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Finding a Market Fit for Your Technology
5.3 Energy Storage Markets
5.3.1 Portable Electronics, Drones, and Medical Devices
5.3.2 Grid Energy Storage and Renewable Energy
5.3.3 Industrial Batteries and Back‐up Power
5.3.4 Home Energy Storage
5.3.5 Electric Vehicles
5.3.5.1 Passenger Cars
5.3.5.2 Light Electric Utility Vehicles
5.3.5.3 Heavy‐duty Utility Vehicles, Trucks, and Buses
5.3.6 Other Nascent Energy Storage Markets
5.3.7 Airplanes
5.3.8 Ships and Boats
5.4 Battery Startup Case Studies
5.4.1 Boston Power
5.4.2 A123 Systems
5.4.3 Aquion Energy
5.4.4 Tesla
5.4.5 Fluidic Energy
5.4.6 Envia Systems
5.4.7 Alevo
5.4.8 SiNode/Nanograf
5.4.9 Sakti3
5.4.10 Cadenza Innovation
5.4.11 24M Technologies
5.5 Lessons Learned from the Case Studies
5.5.1 Market Challenges
5.5.2 Technical Challenges
5.5.3 Financial Challenges
5.5.4 Team Challenges
5.6 Strategies for Startups and Academic Inventors
5.6.1 Funding Strategy
5.6.2 Strategic Partnerships
5.6.3 Intellectual Property (IP) Management Strategy
5.6.4 Technology Licensing
5.6.5 Press Relations (PR) and Marketing Strategies
5.7 Summary
Further Reading
Author Biographies
Chapter 6 Growing a Business in the Chemical Industry
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Strategic Market Segmentation
6.2.1 Do I Have a Solution to an Existing Problem or a Solution Looking for a Problem?
6.2.2 A Solution Looking for a Problem
6.2.3 A Problem Looking for a Solution
6.2.4 The Opportunity Matrix: A Roadmap for Scaling a Chemical Business
6.2.5 Find the Right Niche
6.2.6 Sometimes a Pivot Strategy Can Work
6.2.7 Select the Best Path to Market
6.2.8 Licensing vs. Manufacturing
6.2.9 Strategic Market Assessment
6.3 Building Economies of Scale
6.3.1 Gaining Customer Traction
6.3.2 Customer Testimonials
6.3.3 Pricing Models
6.3.4 Market Entry and Initial Sales
6.3.5 Focus on Measured Growth
6.3.6 Direct Sales vs. Distributors
6.3.7 Testing and Pivoting
6.4 Growing to Commercial Scale
6.4.1 Best Practices
6.4.2 Financing
6.4.3 Growth Constraints
6.4.4 Primary and Secondary Markets
6.4.5 Insource vs. Outsource
6.4.6 Growing Too Fast
6.4.7 Hidden Landmines
6.4.8 Overcoming Competitive Threats
6.4.9 Case Study
6.4.9.1 ActiveEOR for the CHOPS Oil Sector
6.4.9.2 New Market Strategy
6.4.9.3 Introducing a New Chemical to the Oil Market
6.4.9.4 Proof of Concept
6.5 Summary
Suggested Reading
Author Biography
Chapter 7 New Models to Foster Big Pharma and Chemistry Entrepreneurship
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Setting the Stage
7.3 Big Pharma and the Open Innovation Model
7.3.1 Universities/Research Institutions
7.3.2 Biotech Companies
7.3.3 Venture Capital
7.3.4 Patient Associations and Charities
7.3.5 Public Administrations
7.3.6 Contract Research Organizations (CROs)
7.4 Considerations for Would‐Be Entrepreneurs
7.4.1 General Reflections on Collaborations with Big Pharma (the How)
7.4.2 Areas of Collaboration Between Chemical Companies and Big Pharma (the What)
7.4.2.1 Compound Providers: Custom Synthesis
7.4.2.2 Medicinal Chemistry‐Based Biotechs
7.4.2.3 Cheminformatics‐Based Startups
7.4.2.4 Getting Information from X‐ray Diffraction Studies
7.4.2.5 Other Areas
7.4.3 Getting in Touch (the Where)
7.5 Novel Business Models
7.6 Case Study: JJI and the I2D2 Initiative
7.7 Summary
Author Biography
Chapter 8 The Economic Need for Chemically Based Start‐Up Companies
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Promising Programs
8.2.1 NSF's I‐Corps (Innovation Corps) Program
8.2.2 I‐Corps Teams or National Cohorts
8.2.3 I‐Corps Sites
8.2.4 I‐Corps Nodes
8.2.5 Case Study
8.2.6 Non‐dilutive Funding Opportunities
8.2.7 Angel Funding: Dilutive Funding
8.2.8 Accelerators
8.3 Other Potential Programs
8.3.1 Case Studies
8.3.1.1 Evotec
8.3.1.2 CatSci
8.3.2 Agile Innovation Teams
8.3.3 Case Studies
8.3.3.1 525 Solutions, Inc.
8.3.3.2 ThruPore Technologies
8.4 Summary
Recommended Reading
Author Biography
Index
EULA