Pitfalls and shortcuts on the journey from academic science into hard tech entrepreneurship: A personal story.

Grants make research possible. Industry makes commercial products possible. Connecting both ends of the value-creation chain is a challenge that has long flummoxed universities and federal labs. When promising results emerge from research, most professors and scientists rely on institutional “technology transfer” departments to file “State of the Art” patents and solicit interest from industry. After 17 years as a beamline scientist, I chose to follow my technology, formed a startup, and to date have secured over $10M for my company’s technology development. 

“State of the Art” is simply a reflection of a specific communities shared perception rather than a universally agreed to objective state of things. The transition from basic science to applied science and eventually into product development is both a personal challenge and a required developmental progression for any entrepreneurial driven hard tech disruption.

Beginning as a basic science investigation into energy storing nanofluids, Influit Energy’s founders have strategically secured funding for Nanoelectrofuel (NEF) technology development from DOE, ARPAe, NSF, NASA, DARPA, and the Air Force. In this talk I will share insights on the successful transition from academic science to entrepreneurship, advantages and pitfalls of academia, big institutional project developments, and founder-controlled startups. We have chosen the path of shepherding our creative passions, secured strategic partnerships, and identified the specific funding streams which matched our developmental stages. Sharing our unique experience will help illuminate a path which is critical to other future hard tech disruptions.