Technology Transfer
Kevin Schofield

1. General intro comments
   • Perspective: researcher vs. practitioner
     • Written from perspective of researcher, though practitioner would gain value from reading this too
   • Internal vs. external transfer
     • Cover both, then comment at the end about commonalities
   • HCI is a tough tech transfer, specifically because it can be more about ideas than specific implementation
     • Still fighting the wrong impression that HCI is an afterthought, not the "real meat"
2. Internal
   • Relationship, not Rube Goldberg machine
     • Successful tech transfer is a social process, not a mechanical or logistical one
   • Build trust/communication to overcome risk
   • Pyramid
     • (top) implementer
     • co-implementer
     • designer
     • co-designer
     • design reviewer
     • consultant/domain expert
   • the higher up, the more risk
   • start at the bottom, work up by building trust and communication
   • You're transferring ideas, often
   • Be sensitive to funding model
     • Centrally funded vs. LOB-funded
     • Central: create advocates/champions/best friends
     • LOB: customers - give them what they want/expect
   • Throwing your prototypes over the wall
     • You want to hand it off and move on, but this is unrealistic
       • It never works that way
       • Even if it did, it would terminate the relationship and you don't want that
     • They want something they can easily integrate into Version 2.0
       • They aren't starting from scratch, so it has to integrate into the existing product
     • HCI is about context
     • At the level of Card/Newell/Moran cognitive science, it's "science" that generalizes well
     • Above that level, extrapolation/generalization is tricky at best and impossible/misleading at worst
       • This is the dirty secret of HCI, that in many cases were doing "one offs" that don't generalize
     • Throwing over the wall is hard
       • Integration/development
       • (re)design
       • test
       • maintenance
       • localization
       • operations (it's a service world)
   • What to do with the relationship
     • Move up the pyramid
     • Schedule regular "maintenance" conversations
     • Learn about critical real-world issues
       • So you're not an ivory tower
       • Improve your research's relevance
       • Use their access to customers (& data)
       • Ask key questions's
         What hard technical/HCI issues will be business showstoppers soon?
3. External
   • A deal/sale/license/transaction
   • Know what you're selling
     • Ownership or license
     • UI, prototype, implementation, service, code, specs, copyrights, patents, your time
     • Exclusivity
   • Know what you're not selling
     • If you want to keep doing research in this space and building upon your work
       • Don't accidentally put yourself out of business
     • If you want to talk to other prospective buyers
   • Lawyers and business development people
     • Get a good experienced business development person ("agent") to negotiate your deal
     • Get a good lawyer to write it up & make it legal
     • Know the difference between the two
       • Dealmakers understand biz strategy, biz decisions, how to make money
       • Dealmakers will help you to make biz decisions
       • Lawyers don't make biz decisions - you tell them what you want & they write it up and make it legal & binding.
       • Lawyers will give you great advice along the way, but don't let them make the business decisions
       • Lawyers will never tell you it's ok to take a business risk
         • They'll point out the risks & potential consequences
         • The bad ones will tell you not to take the risk
       • Separating the two provides an important counterbalance
       • Deals inevitably involve business risks - your advisors will help you understand the risks, in the end it's up to you to decide whether the opportunity warrants the risk
       • Sources for lawyers
       • Sources for bizdev folks
         • VC's
         • Ask your lawyer
         • Alliance of angel investors
         • Chamber of commerce
         • Entrepreneur/inventor/small biz groups
   • The Pitch
     • Present it from their perspective
       • Their business/revenues/profits/competition
       • Their customers
     • Do your homework
       • Find out everything you can about their current business situation
     • Give them data they can understand and use
       • e.g. do a user study on their product that supports their position
       • show them you're smart and effective and can work with them
       • show them you understand them and talk their language
       • help them make the case to the decision-makers in their organization
     • Confidentiality/NDA's
       • Precarious balance
         • Show them enough to convince them it's real
         • Don't give away your key secrets, though
         • Make them want to sign an NDA to do technical due diligence (they'd be stupid otherwise)
         • Tell them "what" you did, not "how" you did it
         • Show them it working
       • Think this all through ahead of time
         • Before you get into the meeting with them
       • Realize this is a business risk
         • Admit it & deal with it
         • Difference between business development & lawyers - the lawyers will point out the risk of opening the kimono, you have to decide whether it's worth it
   • Negotiations
     • Know where you want to go
     • Know what you need to get there
     • Know what you would like to get beyond the needs
     • Insist on the needs, be flexible on the "wants"
     • Put yourself in their shoes
     • Look for a win/win that's fair for both sides
     • Exchange of value
     • Be honest
       • To other party
       • To yourself - lying to yourself is the surest path to failure
   • Partnership/relationship
     • Signing a deal is not the end, it's just the beginning
     • You now have a relationship with this party, essentially forever
       • Cite examples: patent maintenance, etc.
     • You will need to keep in contact
       • Royalties
       • Support/bug fixes/updates/upgrades
     • Formalize it into future revenue stream
       • Design/consulting services
       • Future sales/deals
       • Right of first refusal on future offerings
       • Investments
     • You will want a (good) reference from the in the future
4. Common parts across internal and external
   • Gotcha's
     • IP issues
       • 3rd party libraries/data/re-distributables
       • Copyright/patent issues
       • Clear it early!!! No nasty/expensive surprises
   • They have to trust you
     • So build trust with communication and followthrough
   • Know what value you bring to the table
     • Business is fundamentally the exchange of value
     • Know how they value what you bring to the table
   • Build a relationship
     • Assume you're going to be working with them until the day you retire