Many potentially useful discoveries made in university research laboratories are never translated to innovative products and services that benefit the public. One major reasons that these discoveries never left the university was that the process of starting a new company to develop and deliver these research discoveries to the public had a very low probability of success. Recognition of this failure of discoveries from federally funded research to have an impact beyond the university led to the development of the NSF I-Corps program. I-Corps teaches more effective way to successfully start new companies using tools of “Lean Startup” and “Customer Discovery”.

The California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB) was initially funded as an I-Corps site to offer faculty and students from each of the 23 campuses of the California State University system training in how to start a biotechnology company. Since being funded by the NSF the CSU I-Corps program has provided training to over 140 teams with over 650 participants, including teams from each of the CSU campuses. This training has led to new startup companies. Examples include: a company that is developing more effective anti-cancer agents that have fewer side effects; a company that has developed a faster and more accurate way to detect specific DNA sequences with applications in medical testing and forensics; a company that has developed a specific and nontoxic way to kill environmental pests; a company that uses information technology to improve hearing; a company that developed an inexpensive, easy to produce ventilator in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and many other useful applications.

In addition to the I-Corps program delivered to the California State University campuses, we were funded to deliver an I-Corps program to underrepresented, early career academics from across the United States. This training program was done at the annual Biotechnology International Organization (BIO) conferences that moves between cities with major biotechnology hubs each year, providing opportunities for the BIO I-Corps participants to learn from innovative companies from around the world during our intensive workshop. Importantly, many of these early career academics came from universities that are located in areas that either lacked access to I-Corps training or did not have other academics who shared an interest in developing a new company with a particular focus. Many of the participants have gone on to start companies, join other biotechnology companies, or obtained training in technology transfer to help university starts negotiate the complex patent process. Although organized by the CSU I-Corps team from San Diego State University (SDSU), this BIO I-Corps program included students from 29 states and Puerto Rico, and instructors from SDSU, MIT, the University of New Hampshire, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), and the Oregon Biosciences Organization.

In addition to the teaching team, each of these I-Corps programs also engaged many experts with experience starting or leading biotechnology companies who served as mentors to the participants.

The NSF I-Corps training curriculum has defined expectations and goals, but the curriculum regularly benefits from I-Corps programs that identify new ways to enhance the curriculum. One of the problems our CSU I-Corps teaching team recognized was the problem that many faculty-led teams have with cognitive bias – that is, the team may have such deep-rooted beliefs that they understand what the need is and how to solve it that they neglect alternative approaches or applications that may be more viable entrepreneurial opportunities. This is a problem both when a company is founded, and at those points when a company needs to make a major change in direction (aka “pivot”). To help overcome cognitive bias, we developed a module that helps teams more effectively consider alternative ideas (a process called “ideation”) by incorporating aspects of design thinking. We have found that this addition to the curriculum has been very beneficial for startup teams, both when starting a company and as the company matures.

The CSU I-Corps grant not only provided training to academic teams interested in starting new companies based upon their university research, but it also had an impact on the university. Experience with the I-Corps program prompted both the California State University system and individual campuses such as SDSU to invest in entrepreneurship training, technology transfer, and new buildings that enhance the collaboration and cooperation between academia and industry.

In short, the NSF-funded I-Corps program has had a lasting influence on many academics, university decision-makers, and regional innovation communities that have led to new companies that are working to deliver valuable advances that benefit society.

Last Modified: 08/28/2023
Modified by: Stanley Maloy