On the Tek-Dev website there is a brief listing of the Technology Development Process (see: www.tek-dev.net/tek-dev ). The first few steps listed there are early development stages that MUST be completed before seeking commercialization capital. Often these initial steps require hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars to complete. This is one of the most important stages of the Technology Development Process, but it is often the most difficult to get funded.
It is a “chicken or egg” scenario. Commercial scale-up might take tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars to complete. This is often the purview of the “big players” in the market. Unfortunately, it is hard to get the attention of these “big players” until these initial stages are complete. Those who might fund the “big plant” are rarely the same people who would fund this early stage development. Those that might fund some of the initial work often cannot even think about funding a commercial scale-up. Hence, funding a Technology Development Project – especially in the early phases – can be a difficult challenge.
This is where a specialist company like Dakin Capital Services, LLC, can be of great help. Karl Dakin is an expert in early technology capitalizations that can be structured to transition into larger commercialization projects. Karl approaches this conundrum with his 8-step capitalization process (see: http://dakincapital.com/8-step-process/ ). In conjunction with Stites & Associates, LLC (SALLC), Karl can develop capitalization strategies that meets the unique needs of your Technology Development program. The unique scientific and engineering expertise of SALLC can be combined with Karl’s unique financing strategies to produce programs that include not only the specifics of technical development, but also the business strategies and financing needed to bring your idea to commercial reality.
Not every good idea can be made into a successful commercial venture. Not every path from conception to commercialization is the same. Nevertheless, the Technology Development Process is, in general, a manageable process that can be planned and mapped. It can be setup with a variety of technical, commercial and financial milestones that can be tracked. There are stage gates that can be set that allow for re-evaluation, course correction and even “stop-loss” decisions. Approaching the Technology Development Process in an unplanned or haphazard way will certainly result in delays, wasted resources and perhaps business failures that are not related to merit of the technology. The last thing that you would want is to have your great idea to be “picked-up” by someone else “for a song” because your development plan didn’t have the proper financing and business strategy.
For more information contact Dakin Capital Services, LLC, at www.dakincapital.com/ or Stites & Associates, LLC, at www.tek-dev.net.
Stites & Associates, LLC, is a group of technical professionals who work with clients to improve laboratory performance and evaluate and improve technology by applying good management judgment based on objective evidence and sound scientific thinking. For more information see: www.tek-dev.net or email us at [email protected] or [email protected].
Comments