Engineering a High-Tech Business

Excerpt

This is a book of stories, perhaps even fables, of the technological entrepreneur.

We put this book together for the science and technology community. Our principal objective has been to convey the adventure and the spirit of the entrepreneurial engineer rather than present recipes and approaches. We feel that this perspective becomes increasingly important as young scientists and engineers emerge into a business environment that is more and more the domain of the small energetic enterprise. Indeed, many will argue that most current technological innovation emanates from such activity. The technical excitement, the control of one's own destiny, the apparent independence from corporate politics, and the prospects of accumulating even a modest sum can all attract the young engineer.

And we now see “entrepreneurship” appearing in university education. Many see this as an immense benefit, but we would argue that entrepreneurship education can be at best an oxymoron and even counterproductive. It is this uneasy prospect that entrepreneurial skills appear to be encapsulated within a set routine, with a simple, logical, single-valued solution. Yes, there are certainly some common elements, and these come through in the anecdotes presented in the book. However, these common elements are generic, have multi-valued manifestations, and can be summarized briefly.

This unease becomes yet more pronounced when relating entrepreneurial activity to science and technology. The practitioners in these disciplines instinctively endeavor to formulate a problem in a relatively simplistic, closed fashion and thereafter seek the closed solution, with logical, justifiable steps from beginning to end. The scientist will cling to this as the central tenet of his faith. The engineer may admit to more diversity. There are, after all, several workable solutions to engineering a highway bridge or an electronic circuit, but these remain closed and fit a technical specification. As we advance into design, sociology and economics, even finance and management, formulating the problem becomes increasingly elusive. But solutions, albeit far from closed, have to be found. Entrepreneurship is best regarded as an open solution to an open problem.

The contributions in this short book illustrate the diversity of aims and aspirations, personalities and motivations, necessities and luxuries that comprise just one small sample of the range of technical entrepreneurship. Our hope here is to illustrate that entrepreneurship embraces a huge diversity of people, techniques, and requirements. There is most certainly no single route forward. There is certainly scope for anyone who feels the interest to explore the prospects that this world can offer.

The stereotypes are nothing more than stereotypes. Yes, the brash exhibitionist exists, though probably in the minority. Yes, there are the self-made millionaires, but these are far outnumbered by those achieving many years of comfortable living. Yes, some capitalize on highly protected scientific breakthroughs, but many more engineer a well-known concept into a particular geographical market or social niche.

Our book has been edited into four sections, though we would be the first to admit that the editing is by no means the only solution to presenting the entrepreneurial story. We start by exploring motivation and money through five chapters. Arguably, these are the most basic necessities of entrepreneurial activity, and even they have their diversities, not only at the level of individuals involved but also through societies, cultures, and communities. Indeed, the latter may be more influential. We then move on to 15 short case studies of individual companies whose stories, taken from several countries and cultures, are predominantly in the optoelectronic sector.

Supporting the entrepreneur is our third theme. This has three principal strands. One is the creation of networks and clusters through which the entrepreneurial community can meet with each other and with the world outside. Trade associations, development corporations, and professional societies all have much to contribute. Next is cash. We explore an example from the world of venture capital, though other sources exist, and the case studies highlight numerous examples of what many perceive as more “friendly” funds. The fourth section explores the role of universities in the technology process. As academics, we believe that universities have important, even critical, contributions to make. We also believe that the vast majority of university organizations still have much to learn in handling this process and resolving how best to make their allimportant contribution.

The stories, the fables you find in this book most certainly highlight entrepreneurial diversity. There is, though, much in common among all the stories. At the core of each is an enthusiast with a technical idea and a desire to see something happen. This is vital.

Much of the rest is about telling the story, projecting the enthusiasm, maintaining the commitment. Persistence is another essential. The idea you have had and demonstrated in the laboratory, possibly even written a technical paper about, is nothing more than that. The difference between idea and product is enormous. The first basic question is whether anybody cares about the prospects the idea may offer. If they do, then perhaps there is a market; but realizing that market requires a product (lots more work than the idea) and an infrastructure with which to market the product. This infrastructure will, as we all learn, dominate the process.

Changing your idea from the lab into a product and providing the infrastructure to market it takes money. Without both product and marketing, no one ever buys anything. In the end, your company has to pay its bills by selling its wares. This is all very obvious but is often initially surprisingly low on the aspiring entrepreneur's agenda. It often takes some persuasion for the technical initiator to accept that interdisciplinary skills are necessary. These skills extend far beyond the technical diversity required to realize the product and move into the “softer” regimes of marketing, leadership, economics, finance, and management.

There is a need, too, for partnership, whether financial, technical, marketing, applications engineering, trade shows and exhibits, political lobbying, etc. The list goes on, and both the problem statement and solution become increasingly open.

In parallel, the art of telling the story to all in this diverse community becomes increasingly important. Storytelling is a two-way process, and the entrepreneur must dedicate at least as much to listening, absorbing, and interpreting as to conveying his own message. It is almost always those outside the entrepreneur's immediate community who finally support the ideas, whether as investors, endorsers, or customers. Listening and responding to these outsiders is critical to eventual success.

So our short volume aims to give at least some insight into this fascinating, multidimensional, multidisciplinary activity called technological entrepreneurship. We believe it extends far beyond the confines of a self-contained, easily encapsulated, concisely summarized endeavor. It is organic, continuously growing and evolving, and advancing into new domains. It is something that must be lived rather than described, and our contributors have all lived their roles in their particular corner of the entrepreneurial life and all that that implies. Embryonic entrepreneurs who read this book will find that their own perspective will be entirely different, but we hope we shall inspire the confidence, the curiosity, and the initiative to give it a try.

And we have many people to thank, most notably all the contributors who have taken the time from being entrepreneurs to describing their perspective on entrepreneurship. We greatly value their input and insights, and we hope their collective leadership will help inspire others with the essential confidence and commitment.

Many have succeeded as technology entrepreneurs. They share a fundamental passion for, deep belief in, and total commitment to their activities. They are persistent, difficult to deflect from their goals. Most of all, we do believe everyone we know who has gone through this has greatly enjoyed their experiences.

Brian Culshaw and José Miguel López-Higuera

February 2008