The Council Meeting The countdown has begun to the final poster-pitches this Wednesday afternoon. We will be joined in the Council Room (shown left without the posters!) by two external assessors, so I thought I would give you some insight into what is expected on the day and their backgrounds. On the one hand, the Council Room is probably a little on the small side to accommodate everyone in the module, but at the same time, it does tend to produce a vibrant atmosphere, which I like. So, on balance, I would rather we squashed up for a few hours and kept the atmosphere lively. My advice is to bring a few bottles of water (although the weather seems to be turning cold again!). After you have hung your posters, the 4 assessors will start walking around and interrogating you and your colleagues. Dr. Alvey and I will be the internal assessors, and will moderate the external assessor's "marks". There will also be a student vote on the best looking poster (remember substance is critically important, but as a poster, it must also be engaging). Finally, there will be an assessors' vote on the best "pitch". Each posters will be marked either by an internal or an external assessor, and then moderated by the internal assessors. We will aim to announce the results of the student and assessor votes by around 3.30pm.
There will be times when you may feel you are at a loose end, please use this time to "interrogate" your colleagues: this is what happens at both scientific and commercial meetings and us. The more you put in: the more you get out!
The Dragon The external assessor this year is Dr. Doug Gjerde. Doug is the CEO of Phynexus Inc, a California based Biotech company, specialising in extraction-purification media, devices and robotic instrumentation, in support of drug discovery and Biotech labs and businesses. He has set up a number of businesses in the USA over the last 30 years, and was behind the IPO of Transgenomic Inc, which he co-founded. He set up Phynexus around 15 years ago. Doug is familiar with the nuts and bolts of the commercialisation of science, from start-up to flotation on the NASDAQ in New York, and has a very broad knowledge on top of his own specialisms (he has a PhD in analytical chemistry). He has been given a brief to first ask you to explain your idea and the business model, after which he will ask questions that they feel will challenge you. Just as with any business pitch, there are no set questions: this is all about experiencing thinking on your feet!
Good luck!
Addendum to the last post on this topic. Since this last post, several students have emailed to find out more about the marking scheme and assessment methods for this project module. The general assessment approach is the same in broad terms as would be applied to any laboratory based project, but as with the outreach projects there are some important differences. I shall summarise the similarities and differences here. The length of the final report, referred to as "The Business Plan" is the same as that for all Level 3 Projects. However, while there is some flexibility in respect of the organisation of the BP, it must contain the following elements.
1. Executive Summary
2. Background (to include a discussion of the science behind the idea, the market opportunity and competitor analysis, the financial requirements, revenues anticipated and the mechanism for funding the business as a real going concern. Remember, the objective is to make this a viable business, not just a virtual company!)
3. Financial plan (This should be sufficiently detailed to withstand scrutiny by a potential investor)
4. Marketing strategy (to include company name, logo, and provisional Internet presence)
5. Human Resources strategy (how you envisage the "size and shape" of the company, who does what, number of staff, levels, salaries etc.)
6. Miscellaneous Depending on the nature of the enterprise, you may which to present information regarding:proof of concept work, intellectual property strategy, location, premises, collaborators, partners etc.
7. References (all sources of information used in preparing the BP).
The BP will be assessed on the basis of content (including style, general English, organisation: all critical for success in business), critical insight (this is particularly important in all Level 3 work, as you know, and will apply to the depth of analysis of the science/technology and the market analysis: the financial planning is expected to be robust, but not sophisticated).
There will be some discretion in respect of the final BP, depending on the number of students participating: this will be made clear at the outset. In principle, students should take ownership of specific sections of the document (identified by name) and collective responsibility for editing and approving the final version.
There are other elements of assessment in addition to the BP, these include business pitching, submission of an individual module diary and the preparation of a provisional (but functional) web site. These elements are discussed in the earlier post.
