Teaching Lean IP Startups
Marc Sedam
Executive Director, UNHInnovation
marc.sedam@unh.edu
© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
What are the main principles of Lean?
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Get out of the building
Learn, build, test, improve
Customer discovery
Build a minimum viable product
Probably going to pivot in there
somewhere
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
What are the main principles of IP
• You can patent an idea
• But not after you make a disclosure
• Disclosures happen when you tell others
what you intend to do
• This was made harder by the America
Invents Act
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
What is Lean IP?
• We’ll find out—I just made up the name!
• The main concept it to teach students how
to understand and appreciate how IP can
make their startup stronger and what to do
so you don’t ruin your IP in customer
discovery.
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Key Insight
• An “enabling public disclosure” is when
you discuss the specifics about your idea
so that someone “sufficiently skilled in the
art” can reproduce or reverse engineer the
idea without undue experimentation
• But you can tell someone what you want
to do without telling them how to do it
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Lean IP Syllabus
• Flipped classroom using Udacity EP245
• Only book assigned is Business Model
Generation
• Customer discovery principles are
discussed in the classroom
• Previous classes made it clear they read
BMG but didn’t read 4-Steps
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Original Classroom Structure
• Teams of engineers and b-school students
• Students register in their home deparment
to avoid the long academic battle
• Teams originated in the classroom
• Students were to watch videos at home
and do the work in the classroom
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Key Insight
• Students don’t watch the videos
• No, I have no idea why either
• Modified to ensure that the first 30 minutes
of each class is spent reviewing the topic
of the homework
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
First four weeks
• Week 1: Idea generation
– Homework: Submit canvas
• Week 2: Idea curation and finalize teams
– Homework: Rework canvas
• Week 3: Value Proposition
• Week 4: Customer Segments
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Where’s the IP?
• During the first four weeks teams are only
working on their value proposition
– Told to focus on making an excellent value
proposition and understanding the customer
segment
• They only talk about what they are doing
and to find out who wants it
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Week 5
• Intellectual property lecture
– Patents
– Copyrights
– Trademarks
• Drilled to understand the difference
between telling someone what you’re
doing and not HOW you do it
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Homework:
• Come to the following class and present
what you think your IP protection type is
and how you intend to protect it
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Week 6
• Review IP strategies in front of the class
• Show edited canvas in terms of IP influence
• For teams with patentable IP we focus hard
on their non-confidential pitch
• For teams with copyright or trademarks they
are to focus heavily on the brand
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Week 7 and beyond
• Teams continue with customer discovery
and working through the canvas and must
show a new canvas each week
• Are asked if and how their discovery
results effect the IP strategy
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Grading
• Original iterations of the class had grading
structures that included
– Submission of canvas each week
– Class participation
– Short reports on specific parts of canvas (VP,
CS, CH, KP, KA)
– Final report
– Final presenation
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
What does that teach you?
• Rewards participation, writing,
presentation skills
• One iteration included the 100 interviews
as part of the grading tautology
• That just reinforced another checkbox
• I wanted kids to actually DO SOMETHING
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
New Grading Structure
• All teams start with a “B”
• Gain or lose ½ grade by accomplishing or
failing to accomplish the following tasks:
– Speak to at least 5 customers/week AND 100
over the course of the class
– Develop a non-working prototype
– Develop a working prototype
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Bonus Half Grades
• Teams who are finalists for our business
plan competition or who generate a dollar
of authentic revenue get grades reworked
to start at B+
• Raising at least $5,000 of external funds
or sales is an automatic A
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Why
• I wanted the students to build real ideas
• They can’t get a good grade without doing
something significant
– Eg. Talking to 100 customers but with no
prototype can only get a B-
• Rewards them for real progress and
avoids having the instructor have to grade
busy work
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
How do we support this structure
• Thanks to an IBM grant, each team has a
$300 budget for prototype development
• Future support from the NCIIA will help us
create a $500 budget for local lawfirms to
help us file provisional patent applications
for teams that need them
– Students own the IP
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Key Insights
• Engineers and quite a few business
students lack the skill needed to make
good financial models
• Very few students know how to make a
proper pitch
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Additions to the syllabus
• Entire class on pro-forma financial
analyses
• Identifying potential costs and sources of
revenue provides student with additional
insights on the future of the idea
• Frequently changes the value prop or
customer segments
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Addition to the syllabus
• Pitching
• Students are given tools to create good
pitches while using the BMC as part of the
structure
• Draft pitches are done 3 weeks before end
of class
• Done in private
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Final Class
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10 minute pitch
Progression of canvas
Summary of customer feedback
Demo of prototype
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Lean IP in University TTO
• BMC is a remarkably efficient tool at
summarizing ideas
• Highlights value and problems with
disclosures
• Shows faculty that there are many other
pieces to consider
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
BMC for TTOs
• Licensing managers are being trained on
the use of BMC
• Expectation is to use this as an evaluation
tool
• Helps determine if funding IP will advance
the commercial likelihood of the inventions
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© 2014 University of New Hampshire | innovation.unh.edu
Lean IP Startups
NCIIA Open 2014
Marc Sedam
© 2014 University of New
27 Hampshire |