The 2009 recession is muting efforts by regional economic development agencies, higher education institutions and corporations to commercialize innovations generated by their scientific and technology researchers. However, the competitive and employment future mandates persistence to encourage and allow the emergence and nurturing of novel ideas, development to commercial feasibility and market readiness, and melding business management to form businesses and thus create new jobs. Articles, white papers, and scholarly essays use a confusing mixture of words to describe the environments where all this "innovation to enterprise" takes place. I believe it time to clarify the role of incubator, proof-of-concept center, accelerator, or translational venues.
To begin, refer to my previous blog, below, "Life Stages of a Novel Idea" for the details of each waypoint from idea to emerging company status. Business incubators have populated technology clusters for more than thirty years and are the most referenced as starting points for research to become commercial reality. They serve a purpose but are not designed, nor managed to nurture the earliest stage novel ideas toward becoming useful innovations.
The vast majority of incubators were built to supplement regional or local economic development goals. Conceived as a real estate investment, investors and governments underwrite constructing space to serve up to 100's of tenants in 200 to 1500 square foot office spaces with shared conference rooms, reception areas and modest eating spaces. Tenants are legal business entities and accepted for occupancy based on financial capabilities to pay rent. Operating independently to pursue their business, tenants receive little or no incubator person ell business advisory help or guidance to find expertise they may need. It is critical to say, these facilities are vital by offering lower cost tenant space get new enterprises growing and creating local employment.
The question needing an answer is what kind of space is best to cause commercialization? Choices are several: (1) a Proof-of-Concept Center for enthused, dedicated science/technology teams to move an novel idea to a point of proving its feasibility to be defined as an innovation of potential commercial value; (2) an Incubator, as described above, for start-up stage businesses that left a campus or sheltered corporate "skunk works" to become a company to prove the innovative product/service can become working demonstrable; (3) an Accelerator where the prototyped beta ready innovation can be demonstrated to attract more grant money, contracts or venture capital to prove its commercial value; or (4) Offices and Production facilities that legitimizes an enterprise that must seek expansion capital to launch a product/service marketing and selling effort. These four choices meet very different objectives with each requiring different operating, funding sources, and success outcomes; and (5) Clusters composed of each novel idea enriching facility - (1), (2), (3) and (4) above. Clusters form near multi-university or corporate activity concentrating on specific technical domains such as pharma, bio based products, semiconductors and electronics, software, etc. They become a regional attractant for job seeking domain expertise. A cluster, in time, is greater than the sum of its parts. The Proof-of-Concept Center must be the Cluster hub catalyzing feasible innovations to migrate into Incubators who then graduate demonstrable product/service companies to Accelerators and once market proven move to occupy Offices and Production Facilities.
There is deep misunderstanding about the roles these five commercialization venues play in creating true innovations, marketable products or services, well prepared start-up companies, financed enterprises ready to compete and the motivations behind creation of these venues.
Consider carefully what you really want to accomplish when planning to capitalize on novel ideas, innovations, established feasibility, developed and demonstrable products or services, and new commercial entities about to enter a market. Each of the novel idea evolutionary stages require different development support systems and if provided will greatly improve success probabilities. This writer has watched and been part of the above processes for many, many decades and concludes the critical element to improve the odds of creating truly valuable innovations and the businesses that propel them to market is the germinating establishment of a Proof-of-Concept Center. Some validation of these comments were reported by the Kauffman Foundation at http://www.kauffman.org/uploadedFiles/POC_Centers_01242008.pdf
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