By Eric Crawley, Entrepreneur-in-Residence

NanoPreneurship can bring on a new set of challenges for researchers who are more accustomed to the lab and academic environments than the world of business. They are often focused on how something works, which is critical in their research but when it comes to business, the questions are more focused on what problem is being solved and why is that important to the customer.

An Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) is an experienced business leader who can help Entrepreneurs and NanoPreneurs navigate this sometimes unfamiliar world of business and industry. For example:

• Customers and investors expect that you have the “how” questions covered. They want to know why it should be important to them. EIRs and the resources that they can connect NanoPreneurs to can help them through these challenges to a successful venture.
• NanoPreneurs need a business network. EIRs can help build that network by connecting them to the right resources at the right time.
• NanoPreneurs are often faced with conflicting information and a dizzying set of choices and priorities. Working with an experienced EIR can help them focus on the most important immediate tasks to move their venture forward.

As an Entrepreneur-in-Residence for the College of Engineering at UMass Amherst, I help students and faculty take ideas and turn them into viable companies. This can vary from simple career advice to connections with programs and financing as well as crafting business models and developing pitches for investors and other audiences. I see ventures that range from simple apps and devices to new drug therapies. While the timelines and financial scales may differ, many of the problems are the same. Probably the most critical is to define the customer segments being served and the value being provided to each. I like to say that you need to know your customers well enough that you know what they (figuratively) smell like. Only then, can you know that you are delivering something that addresses their problems. The major reason that startups fail is because they have built something nobody wants. In the lab it is very easy to think you are solving a problem that will be valuable as a business but you won’t know for sure unless you get out and talk to some of the people who would actually be in a position to buy what you are developing. Many startups discover that what they thought was a big problem for the potential customer isn’t that important when they actually talk with them. However, they usually find that they can alter their approach and deliver real value to the customer – that is the recipe for a successful startup.

You can find biographies and contact information for the current UMass Amherst EIRs at this link: EIR Bios. The easiest way to connect with me or one of my colleagues is to call Maryanne Laukaitis at the UMass Amherst Technology Transfer Office, 413-577-2126, or email her at maryanne@research.umass.edu. Or, you can email an EIR Sign-up Form to Maryanne and she will contact you to set up the first meeting.