Achieve Success By Taking a Business Approach to Technology Transfer

1. Achieve Success By Taking a Business Approach to Technology Transfer Wesley D. Blakeslee Executive Director Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer 410-516-8300 wdb@jhu.edu

2. What Does It Mean – A Business Minded Approach Understanding that operating the tech transfer office is running a business Adopting the attitudes, systems, analyses and practices of successful businesses KNOW THE NUMBERS

3. JHTT • $5.1 Million Operating Budget • $6.6 Million Patent Spend • $12.2 Million Earnings1 • $3.6 Million Patent Reimbursement • $4.1 Million Net Profit 1. Not including equity sales

4. Writing About It Is Not Doing It SWOT analysis Business Plan Operations Manual

5. Doing It Last 3 years created the best and most useful data and financial management system anywhere Result: Financial and metric budgeting and predictions have been data-based and dead on last 2 years

6. Understand Your Business and Business Focus Is it: Faculty Service Revenue Production Public Service – Advance Technologies For Public Benefit Service /Accessibility to Industry Economic Development

7. It’s All Of Those And Maybe Others • The Driving Force: Extraordinary Results with Ordinary People Peter Schutz

8. So, What Do Businesses Do, How Do They Operate?

9. Common Business Focus Human Resources Financials Business Metrics Data Mining And Analysis Supply Chain Branding Marketing Sales

10. Human Resources People – Your Most Important Asset • Old GE Slogan: "People are our most important product" • "Good to Great"; Jim Collins: "The Right People" • Get the right people on the bus • Get the wrong people off the bus

11. Know Your People Strengths and weaknesses Desires, likes and dislikes Source of information

12. Motivate Your People People don't care what you know, they want to know how much you care Can't win with a team "busting rocks" need your team "building a temple"

13. Incentive Compensation Very necessary at JHTT Keep the best people Attract new people

14. Financials • Income • Expenses • Office operating expenses • Patent costs • Accounts Receivable • Licensee Obligations

15. Financials – JHTT specific • Patent backlog – 500 cases burning $$, w/o active marketing or sales • One effect of continuous understaffing • Patent costs – reduced firms, negotiated substantial fee reductions and $$ caps per tasks • Created first class financial system for accounts receivable, licensee obligations due

16. Business Metrics If you don't track it you can't measure or predict it If you can't measure or predict it you can't improve it If you don't track, measure or predict it, you can't understand it If you don't understand it you can't sell it

17. Business Metrics Upfront $$$ Total Contract Value Age to License Conversion % # Licenses/Licensing Associate

18. Data Mining and Analysis Upfront $$$ - Predict revenues Total Contract Value – demonstrate long term value of JHTT; return/$$ Age to License – Patent decisions Conversion % - Potential licenses # Licenses/Licensing Associate – staffing needed

19. Supply Chain • Need to increase # of disclosures • Metrics predict JHU should be about 1 disclosure per $3.25 – 3.5 Million in research dollars

20. Supply Chain • Faculty Service • Immediate response to Disclosure • Face to face w/in 4 weeks • Online Disclosure submission • Faculty portal access to invention-specific info on line • Programs, programs, programs • Invention to Venture • Entrepreneur's Boot Camp • Company meetings and events • Vine and Venture series

21. Branding • Before – Internal: • Hard to deal with • Non-communicative/secretive • Couldn't get technology out • Questionable value added • Process more trouble than it was worth

22. Branding • Before – External: • Arrogant/Hard to deal with • Non-responsive • Inflexible • Overpriced • Time to close deal too long • No understanding of business issues • Not "in the game"

23. Improving Branding • Understanding • Honest assessment • Info from outsiders • Understand the metrics

24. Improving Branding • Education • Internal and external • Metrics critical • Highlight the good • Recognize the bad • Project the fix

25. Improving Branding • Services • All constituent groups • Delivery • Walk the walk, not just talk the talk • Face to face • Tackle the specifics • Practice

26. Improving Branding – JHTT Specifics • First 6 months – continuous personal presentations to faculty/management • "JHTT – not as bad as you thought" • Increased staffing, re-organized • Fixed delay problem • Open books and activities • Sold the sizzle

27. Improving Branding – JHTT Specifics • Conference Exhibits • Bio NCETT • AUTM LES • AACR ASCO • Events • Angel/Ventures • Bioinvestors conference • Public relations • Articles • Publications

28. Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer

29. Marketing Don't confuse marketing with sales – though related they are different activities for different purposes Marketing means presenting your organization or a particular technology in a favorable light to generate interest, increase value Branding is the general part of marketing

30. Marketing – JHTT specifics • Branding correction • Website upgrade • Marketing summaries • Searchable and analyzable "technology available for licensing" spreadsheet – created on demand through database • Automated "push" marketing • Technologies visible on numerous services • Ibridge; Spark IP; Tech Transfer Online; others

31. Sales • Great Hairy Myth: • You can't sell university technology - companies buy it • Like all myths a grain of truth • If you do virtually nothing but be open, you will do some business • Some folks will find and buy some things without initial contact from you

32. Sales Truth: "Technology transfer is a contact sport" Jane Muir, U. FL.

33. Sales – JHTT Specifics Work in progress – seeking a sales director Sales Pipeline – Report of matters in progress generated by data system Understand customers and customer product pipeline Company focused meetings and programs "Feet on the street"

34. Industry Connections Engineering Advisory Board Carey Business School Partnership Program Institute for Policy Studies Advisory Board NanoBioTechnology Advisory Board Brain Sciences Institute Advisory Board Global Health Advisory Boards Medicine Scientific Advisory Board Hopkins BioTech Network Brain Science Industry Advisory Board Institute for Cell Engineering

35. The Art of the Deal:Myth of Getting Your Way • Tech Transfer is more than selling -its deal making • One approach – getting what you want • "Getting your way is the gateway to getting what you want" - Jeffrey Gitomer, Little Green Book of Getting Your Way

36. The Art of the Deal: Getting What You Need You can't always get what you want - But if you try sometime, yeah,You just might find you get what you need! -Rolling Stones

37. The Art of the Deal: Give The Other Side What They Need • JHTT view – The Art of the Deal is learning how to give the other side what they need • "The more you give value, the more you will get your way" Jeffrey Gitomer , Little Green Book

38. The Art of the Deal: Giving Value • Understand their business • Read their materials • Ask business questions • Don't give up on finding a solution • Biggest problem we have in our industry is looking in, not out • We understand our business, not theirs

39. Value Proposition • Secret to sales: Creating the value proposition • We seldom do it • Mostly we don't know how • How it’s done: • Understand company's business • Know their product pipeline • Know their focus • Show them why they need our product • Demonstrate the value to them

40. Value Proposition • So What, Who Cares, Why You - Wendy Kennedy

41. Sales - Creating Opportunities With Start-ups

42. Changing Market For University Biotechnology Big pharma have been reducing in-house research programs, closing labs Big pharma looks to acquire later stage technologies More and more early development being done by start-up and very small biotech companies

43. Emphasis On Start-up Companies • Some universities traditionally more inclined to start up companies • Faculty tend to be interested in creating a company and leaving the university • Commercialism viewed positively, or at least not negatively • E.g. Stanford, MIT

44. Necessary In Face Of Changing Biotech So, we started a specific program to increase start-ups from JHU technology Always did some – 3 – 4 per year but not initiated or by our efforts FY 08 did 12, last year, FY09 did 10

45. Start-ups – JHTT specific Changed attitudes – programs and publicity regarding benefits and necessity Created specific programs to engage the angel and venture community Engaged the entrepreneur community

46. Start-ups – JHTT specific Angel pitching events Investor opportunity programs Creating top 100 Maryland entrepreneur list "Speed dating" event Close cooperation with our regional players – universities and state agencies

47. Key Points • Tech Transfer is a business • Think like a business • Know the numbers • Understand your business –Understand theirs • Brand, Market and Sell • Value Proposition

48. Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer: Building a World Class Office QUESTIONS? Wesley D. Blakeslee Executive Director Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer 410-516-8300 wdb@jhu.edu