Thursday, June 2, 2005
Time Session Title
8:30 AM Examining the developing role of SBIR-involved firms in the context of the transforming military
Speaker/
Discussants		 Victor Ciardello, Director, Small Business Technology and Industrial Base, Office of Secretary of Defense Format: Analytical presentation
Focus and objective: Present and future challenges in engagement addressed by the US Military are changing radically how all the Services must function, the types of technology that need are needed and, to an important extent, how and from what sources that technology is accessed. What that may mean for the SBIR-involved firms will be examined.
9:20 AM Taking the long view: the experience of one major corporation towards making various SBIR collaborative efforts work
Speaker/
Discussants		 Lonnie Bush, The Boeing Company
B. (Ravi) Ravichandran, Scientific Systems Company, Inc
 Format: Case analysis
Focus and objective: The Boeing Company has long-standing and extensive numbers of working relationships with SBIR involved firms. These cover the gamut from sub-contracting relationships on Phase I and Phase II SBIR-STTR projects; through Phase III collaborations; Boeing funded R&D and other contracts; in- and out-licensing arrangements; and corporate equity deals. Using a real-case example, this session will examine how Boeing is going about integrating SBIR-STTR demonstrated capabilities into the larger firm's business objectives - problems as well as successes.
9:45 AM Measuring outcomes: examining the detail of patent activity among SBIR-involved firms
Speaker/
Discussants		 Ann Eskesen, Innovation Development Institute Format: Context-Setting presentation
Focus and objective: The Innovation Development Institute routinely compiles all data relevant to th patenting activity of all firms which are SBIR-involved. With important comparative data, this backdrop setting session will examine who these firms are; in what technology space they are concentrated and the form and extent of their SBIR-STTR participation.
10:00 AM Avoiding Road Blocks and Protecting R&D: Some Legal Tips
Speaker/
Discussants		 George Xixis, Nutter, McClennen & Fish, LLP Format: Presentation
Focus and objective: The Supreme Court's pending decision in Merck v. Integra reminds us that rapidly growing companies often make decisions in running their R&D that may have unintended and significant legal consequences later on. We will discuss some Intellectual Property  Do's and Don'ts and offer some suggestions as to how to integrate legal decision making into your R&D process.
10:20 AM Refreshment break
10:45 AM What's driving Technology Seekers to look outside? ... and how is that changing internal operations
Speaker/
Discussants		 Charles J. Brez, NineSigma, Inc
Ann Eskesen, Innovation Development Institute
Richard H. Hendel, The Boeing Company
Edward A. Kahn, UTEK-EKMS
H. S "Duke" Leahey, Venganza, Inc and Life Sciences Alliances, LLC (formerly Pharmacia & Pfizer)		 Format: Moderated panel discussion
Focus and objective: The activity of looking outside the company for R&DD, new capabilities and new technologies is a relatively recent but increasingly impantant phenomenon. Featuring larger firm representatives in their role as Technology Seekers andothers who work extensively inhis space, this moderated discussion will address elements of what is driving this process and how it is changing the way they do business.
11:25 AM Bridging the Gap: tools to support building a symbiotic relationship between SBIR companies and large(r) firms
Speaker/
Discussants		 Joanne Hyland, Radical Innovations Group (formerly Nortel Networks) Format: Analytical presentation
Focus and objective: Offered by that person with previous management responsbility for the Innovation Hub at Nortel Networks, this session will examine the factors that differentiate the entrepreneurial model required for a technology start-up company and the efficient systems in place in a large firm to support the status quo. Useful tools developed to deal with how these two very different cultures can effectively work together will be considered.
12:10 PM Buffet Luncheon
1:00 PM Intellectual Property, Product Development and People - Managing the Gap in Technology Commercialization
Speaker/
Discussants		 Irina Erenburg, Massachusetts General Hospital
Fiona Murray, MIT Sloan School		 Format: Interactive Working Session
Focus and objective: The translation and commercialization of ideas from academia to industry and small companies to large is a complex process.  Some of the key challenges are associated with what has come to be known as a "gap" or chasm in the early days of a Company's development.  We take this gap concept and argue that it arises because of a form of market failure.  Market failures arises when buyers and sellers are hindered from coming together in efficient ways to match their needs and resources.  We suggest that there are at least three key resources in which market failures arise: intellectual property, experimental evidence and people.  The final and most often referred to gap is funding, which is in fact one of the areas that the SBIR program tries to partially address. However we argue that the lack of funding often arises because of the market failure in these other dimensions.  For example:  With limited IP investors are unwilling to take the risk to back a Company, similarly when the portfolio is limited, uncertain in its scope or the licensing terms investors are wary.  Experimental evidence that decreases commercial uncertainty and the technical uncertainty of the product's likely performance in the market place is also often missing - grants or financing cannot be secured or the wrong experiments are conducted.  Finally without the key team in place investors are unwilling to back a Company.  These three dimensions are closely connected - with the right people guiding the experiments, the right knowledge will be generated to build IP and more likely funding will be secured.  We will examine each of these elements and then examine a series of examples from MGH in which the institution sought to combine various types of internal resources to bridge the development of nascent companies and their IP portfolios in such a way as to build sustainable and fundable Companies.
1:55 PM What is it worth? understanding what factors define value
Speaker/
Discussants		 Travis D. Connors, Egan-Managed Capital
Timothy H. Harned, Managing Director, Capstone Partners LLC
Edward A. Kahn, UTEK-EKMS
H. S "Duke" Leahey, Venganza, Inc and Life Sciences Alliances, LLC (formerly with Pharmacia & Pfizer)
Jim Matheson, Flagship Ventures
James A. Saalfield, Still River Funds		 Format: Talk Show
Focus and objective: There is rarely anything intrinsically valuable about a particular technology. Among the factors which drive the value-creation process are primarily the stage of development, what else is needed to complete the process and, perhaps critically, the use to which that technology will be put. In a completely unstructured working discussion, various players for whom valuation is an integral part of their professional responsibility will bring their takeon this issue to the table. These will include Venture Capitalists, Technology Transfer specialists, attorneys, deal-makers and the technology creators.
2:40 PM Okay ... you've made it to having the VC Term Sheet in your hands. What do all those clauses mean?
Speaker/
Discussants		 Richard N. Kimball, Nutter, McClennen & Fish, LLP
Alex Glovsky, Nutter, McClennen & Fish, LLP		 Format: Interactive presentation
Focus and objective: Involving two highly experienced VC attorneys, this session will systematically examine some of the language which will almost certainly be in the Term Sheet prepared by your Venture Capitalist. Topics to be addressed will include Typical deal structures Due diligence review Stock Purchase Agreements Shareholder/Investor Rights Agreements Governance and control issues Architecture of the Equity -- Anti-dilution protection; Pre-emptive rights; Redemption rights Registration rights and Equity compensation issues
3:25 PM Refreshment break
3:45 PM At the table: negotiating to a mutually acceptable licensing deal
Speaker/
Discussants		 H. S "Duke" Leahey, Venganza, Inc and Life Sciences Alliances, LLC (formerly with Pharmacia & Pfizer)
Stephen H. Atkinson, Atkinson & Associates LLC (formerly Harvard Technology Transfer office)
Kelly L. Longo, Pfizer		 Format: Interactive panel
Focus and objective: Moderated by someone well-experienced in deals involving small firms and major corporations, this unscripted session will play out in real time many of the issues which are typically part of the discussions when thelarge and small firm parties sit across the table from each other.
4:40 PM Evaluating Alternative Uses of Technology
Speaker/
Discussants		 Edward A. Kahn, UTEK-EKMS Format: Presentation
Focus and objective: Very often, patents and technology that are utilized in one industry can have broad applications in many non-competing industries.  Gallium arsenide, an advanced material developed by TRW for use in its satellites, was licensed by RF Micro Devices for manufacturing the microchips inside a cell phone handset. A force feedback technology designed to measure improvement in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome was acquired by Microsoft for use in its SideWinder joystick.  A thermoplastic syntactic foam developed by Boeing to eliminate electromagnetic interference in antenna units was determined to have medical applications relative to the production of synthetic bone.
These are only a few examples of the possibilities that may present themselves when a company undertakes the evaluation of its technology to establish alternative applications in non-competing markets.  How does a company initiate a technology evaluation?  What are some of the benefits to be realized?  What are some of the processes involved?  Using real-world approaches and experiences, this session will focus on helping companies gain a better understanding of the many ways patents and technology can be leveraged to create value.
Recommended Reading: “Intellectual Property: Partnering for Profit”, McKinsey Quarterly
5:10 PM Getting to what we want as Technology Seekers: elements in preparing an effective Request for Proposals
Speaker/
Discussants		 Charles J. Brez, NineSigma, Inc Format: Interactive presentation
Focus and objective: As more business entities begin to go outside internal company operations to find new technologies, different capabilities and potential collaborations, the very basic task of tackling how to describe what they want is becoming far more of a challenge. Of interest both to the Technology Seeker and to those whose expertise they solicit, this session will provide useful insight into that process.
5:35 PM Considering the options: examining the challenges of spin-out and collaborations as technology commercializing vehicles
Speaker/
Discussants		 Kang P. Lee, Aspen Systems, Inc Format: Presentation
Focus and objective: A very active and successful SBIR participant from the very earliest days, Aspen Systems Inc has used program resources as a critical component in development of the firm's core capabilities. With an aggressive and increasingly important program of spin-outs, the firm is achieving market penetration in a number of fields and thus realizing some part of the value of their developed assets.
With one of those spin-offs the subject of a widely used Harvard Case on technology entrepreneurship and the challenge of enabling technologies , the founding President will share part of his experiences, consider where they are and where they're going in the next few months, and discuss some of his lessons learned.
6:30 PM Reception