NSF NYCRIN I-Corps Project

It has been a rather hectic January and February 2014!

In short, I have been involved with:

1. Serving my existing clients
2. Creation of a crowdfunding business for life sciences (more to come on this later)
3. Serving as a mentor on a team in the National Science Foundation-funded NYCRIN I-Corps

What is NYCRIN I-Corps?

The NYCRIN site provides the following description: “The New York City Regional Innovation Node (NYCRIN) is a network of 25 leading universities in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania area. NYCRIN unites, empowers and makes sustainable the unique innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem in NYC and surrounding region.”
The I-Corps stands for Innovation Corps; NYCRIN I-Corps is a program that prepares academic researchers to become entrepreneurs and speeds the commercialization of their research.

What does an I-Corps Mentor do?

Mentors are responsible for guiding the team forward and reporting on its progress through regular communication with the cognizant NSF I-Corps program director. I serve essentially as a business/commercialization advisor for the project.

So far, I have had a great time. Participating in this has reminded me of the core issues related to commercialization and marketing. Serving the needs of customers is the fundamental driving force and not the product: it is much easier to sell heaters than ice to those at the North Pole!