Finding the right partner — whether for research funding, start-up creation and investment, licensing technology, or industry engagement — is a skill set that encompasses sales, marketing, science, art, and a whole lot of organizational proficiency.

You will engage with countless people on a technology’s journey through the commercialization pipeline. Each contact is a valuable part of building your network and every encounter has the potential to become a success story. But fostering these relationships is only one part of the picture.

You’ll need to keep track of who’s who: What technologies they are interested in, who gravitates to early-stage inventions and who invests only in revenue generating companies, their interest by technology sectors, which contacts are regional vs national or global in scope, what previous communications have occurred and what are the next steps. It’s a lot of “grunt work” to keep it all organized, but it pays off in spades when you finally find “the one” and a deal is signed.

The presenters come from two distinctively different backgrounds, and while their approaches to building a matchmaking network vary, the end goal remains the same: creating long-lasting relationships that will eventually lead to successful deals and partnerships. Erika Warner of Tangible IP represents the IP brokerage side, and Joe Runge of UNeMed represents the university-based start-up and tech transfer side. Each will reveal their unique strategies for gaining and holding the attention of potential future stakeholders, keeping their contacts and networks organized, and closing the deals when the time comes.

Topics and methodologies discussed will include, but are not limited to:

• Methods for connecting:
  • Cold calls
  • Content-based marketing
  • Networking events and online groups/platforms
  • Podcasts and newsletters
• Pros and cons of “company-centric” and “IP-centric” matchmaking
• Mitigating potential risks related to:
  • Bayh Dole limitations
  • Exclusive vs non-exclusive licensing
  • Selling of IP
  • Confidentiality agreement requirements
• Keeping track of it all
  • Organizing your contacts so you can pivot to meet their immediate needs
  • Follow-up tactics to avoid “out of sight, out of mind”
• Lessons learned
  • IP Broker perspective
  • Tech Transfer/Incubator/Business Development perspective