Commercializing Innovation

Book excerpt: Commercializing Innovation: Turning Technology Breakthroughs into Products shows how to turn ideas from R&D labs, universities, patent offices, and inventors into commercially successful products and services. Commercializing technology has never been easy, and it's getting tougher all the time. All the decisions you need to make are complicated by today's breakneck rates of change in enabling technology and by competitive pressures disseminated globally at the speed of the internet: Where to get ideas? Which to pursue? Whom to hire? Where to manufacture? How to fund? Create a startup or license to another? To answer these questions adequately and bring sophisticated products and services successfully to market, you need to deploy the systematic methods detailed in this book. Jerry Schaufeld--serial technology entrepreneur, angel investor, and distinguished professor of entrepreneurship--presents in detail his proven step-by-step commercialization process, beginning with technology assessment and culminating with the successful launch of viable products into the global market. Using case studies, models, and practical tips culled from his entrepreneurial career, he shows readers of Commercializing Innovation how to Source technology that can be turned into products Recognize an opportunity to create a viable product Perform feasibility analyses before sinking too much money into a project Find the right method and means to introduce the product to market Plan the project down to the last detail Execute the project in ways that improve chances of its success Comply with government regulation without crippling your project Decide whether offshore manufacturing is your best option Compete globally with globally sourced ideas and funding