Rick Bolander on Michigan eLab’s Commitment to Technology Commercialization

The co-founder of Michigan eLab, Rick Bolander also serves as the firm’s Managing Director. A longtime entrepreneur himself, Mr. Bolander now uses his experience and network to help University of Michigan students, faculty, and partners achieve their entrepreneurial goals.

In addition to sponsoring entrepreneurial training, Michigan eLab provides promising startups with the full venture capital support they need to achieve final liquidity. The eLab also works with a team of technology commercialization experts who identify and transfer recent innovations from the laboratory to the market. Once this team has selected a potential technology for commercialization, its experts guide researchers or university officials through several key steps.

First, the team ensures that the technology is patentable by researching relevant “prior art,” or previously extant information about an innovation, if any. Next, experts evaluate the product’s marketability and technological merit before applying for a patent. Finally, the technology commercialization team seeks out a licensee, or a company interested in purchasing the rights to the innovation. Alternatively, the team at Michigan eLab helps the researcher build his or her own startup company as a way to market the technology.

Managing a High-Tech Startup, by Rick Bolander

You have a great idea, but you still need to know how to turn your great idea into a successful business over the long term. As a venture capitalist who has worked with numerous high-technology start-up companies, I’ve listed a few basic points below that can assist any entrepreneur in finding success.

1. First, understand the nature of what you are selling. Are you carving out a brand new field or niche industry? Are you improving on an existing product or service in the market? This understanding will assist you in determining the right positioning and branding strategy for your company.

2. Invest wisely in researching potential consumer markets for your product. Is there room for it to grow and develop within its industry niche?

3. Plan which aspects of your company you will and will not outsource. For example, many new businesses can reduce overhead by outsourcing their information technology, human resources, and legal departments. On the other hand, you usually won’t save money by outsourcing operations such as product development, which go to the core of your brand identity.

4. Hire personnel who have significant experience getting startups off the ground successfully, and create a strong management team whose members possess complementary skill sets.

5. Remember that the way you organize your new company can ultimately be as important as the quality of your product. Venture capital firms and other potential funders will use the quality of your operations as a key factor in any investment decision related to your company.

About Rick Bolander: The Managing Partner at San Francisco-based Gabriel Venture Partners, Rick Bolander co-founded the firm in 1999. He and his team have worked with companies such as Kajeet, Inc., a mobile phone service for young people, and Netscaler, which developed a cloud-based performance operations program for businesses.