This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I research project will create a powerful technology platform for teaching scientists and engineers how to develop their discoveries into successful businesses that transform innovative ideas from the lab to enterprise, from enterprise to value. The project will devise a new online instructional tool that combines real-world technology-based case studies with the power of social media networks to provide scientists and engineers with the intellectual rigor and rich decision-making environment derived from Wikipedia-like crowd-sourced user feedback. The platform will be accessible to a broad spectrum of users, including those without access to typical entrepreneurship instructional opportunities in the traditional academic setting. The research has two specific objectives: i) to identify prospective case studies that showcase complex, real-world scientific as well as business challenges often faced by startup businesses, and ii) to complete the technology platform that integrates video-captured case studies with interactive components for providing participatory feedback through social networking sites as well as blogs, podcasts, and relevant links. The project will also benefit directly from access to a 13,000 video clip collection on entrepreneurship and leadership, a resource that offers deeper knowledge on each relevant topic.
Entrepreneurship education has become an increasingly important aspect of the entrepreneurial endeavor, especially in science and engineering, where developments in the energy, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, nanotechnology and life sciences sectors continue to experience record growth. However, the gap between basic research and product development/commercialization remains wide and deep. Educational efforts to bridge that gap have generally been unsuccessful. The project is based on the belief that peer-learning can accelerate the acquisition of valuable entrepreneurial skills. Besides benefiting from 'on the job' experience, entrepreneurs can better master the challenges of the business world using realistic case studies enhanced with user-generated analysis and commentary enabled by multimedia and social networking capabilities. Today's 'generation-Y' or 'millennial' students and young professionals use online communities and social networks to obtain and share information. By leveraging this online participatory culture, Prendismo will create a new educational paradigm that will help entrepreneurs hone their skills at creating, developing, and commercializing the technologies of the future.
With the support of the National Science Foundation Phase I and Phase IB Small Business Innovation Research grants, Prendismo, LLC was able to focus on increasing the probability that government-funded discoveries get successfully translated into new products or processes that have market value. To achieve this, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) faculty members need a better understanding of commercialization processes and entrepreneurial principles. Thus, our primary objective was to create a way to showcase real-world examples of how faculty members have crossed the bridge from the lab to the marketplace by integrating knowledge from two sources: 1) interview material from practicing science-entrepreneurs, recorded on digital media and 2) educational materials on commercialization, primarily text-based. Our solution to this unique challenge was the development of the technology platform we named BackChannel. BackChannel facilitates the creation and on-line publication of commercialization stories that showcase the complex business and technical challenges faced by startup companies, using authentic voices and set in the context of the principles of commercialization. The platform consists of a front-end which displays the text and digital media components of the case material. In addition, the platform includes an administrative back-end tool which enables authors to create new case material and incorporate their own digital media or pick from existing media in Prendismo’s 15,000 clip collection on business and entrepreneurship. In addition to creating the BackChannel platform, the team created five commercialization cases which included 340 digital media clips comprising approximately 12 hours of video and audio content.
