Take the Test

Have you ever wondered how to bring your idea from the lab to life - or from the garage to the business world, as the case may be? It's not easy to learn how to commercialize innovation, how to evaluate a technology to determine whether it is worth investment, how to raise venture capital, how to go about commercializing and product, or how to deliver an effective investor presentation.

This quick test will give you some indication if you're ready to present your technology idea to business backers:

Imagine for a moment that you're at an executive-level meeting or business function attended by several key potential investors, supporters or sponsors of your idea. If you were given the chance to tell them about your idea, which of the following would you do?

• Describe the idea in detail, particularly how you came up with the idea and how you developed the technology behind it.
• Explain the details of how it (the technology or product) works.
• Describe many different applications and uses for your idea - as many as you can think of to be sure to get people's interest.
• Use acronyms and technical terminology to validate your idea and demonstrate expertise.
• Point out that there is no competition for the idea - that no one else out there is doing anything like it - making it a sure-fire bet.

If you relate to any one of these - if you think you'd approach that kind of situation in any of these ways - then this book is for you. That's because none of the approaches listed above is suitable for a business or investor conversation about your idea. In fact, businesspeople are evaluating much more than the science or details behind an idea - they have a different set of criteria.

It's human nature to focus on the details of things that we are passionate about. But without understanding the motivations behind the questions that investors and other business backers ask, it's easy to focus on the wrong things without ever really answering the questions. That's a big risk, because chances are you have just one very short meeting in which to convince business people that they should hear more about your idea. You've got to capture their attention quickly by answering "the question behind the question" — then provide the compelling details necessary to support your answers.