1. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA FYI: Finding Your Idea  Generating Ideas  Evaluating Ideas  Acting on the Idea  Presenting the Idea.

2. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA What’s the Really BIG Idea?  6 – 7 % of US population starting a business at any given time  53% of new small businesses begin in the home with less than $10,000  Youngest and smallest firms are the biggest job producers  Fast-growth companies responsible for about two-thirds of the new jobs  67% of inventions and 95% of radical innovations since World War II  Small patenting firms produce 13 – 14 times the number of patents per employee  Large companies & wealthy individuals started small, like YOU.

3. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 Look INSIDE: personal characteristics and existing resources  Genuine interests and true passion  Professional and personal resources  Entrepreneurial characteristics and aptitude What’s UP!

4. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 Explore ALL ABOUT: ask, listen, look  Involve others  Friends, acquaintances and mentors  Business associates, vendors, suppliers, customers, employees, regulators  New/different people, strangers and general public, other majors/industry  Be original and break rules  Question habitual responses  Daily happenings, events, ordinary living  Break your routine  Heed your imagination, dreams, fantasies  Explore your intuition  Reexamine failure What’s UP!

5. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 Reach OUT: examples, trends, data  Immerse yourself  Specific information  General information sources  Demographics What’s UP!

6. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 Generating Ideas  Have lots of ideas  Develop a method of capturing these ideas  Be open to ideas  Build on ideas  Accept multiple solutions  Consider substitutions, changes, rearrangement  Simple is best  Observe and contemplate, but don’t judge  Do strive to understand, interpret actions/behavior, and consider context  Filter ideas later What’s UP!

7. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 The question is not what you look at but what you see Thoreau What’s UP!

8. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 Define and Differentiate the Product or Service  Unique capabilities and function  Demonstration of value created  Solves a real problem better than alternatives  Benefits and advantages, not just features  Competitive situation  Stage of development  Proof establishing technical feasibility  Rights to use & Ability to prevent duplication or imitation  Additions and sustainable advantage  External factors Why is your idea best ? So What.

9. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 Identify Market Opportunity and Demonstrate Market Potential  Initial/primary target market  Describe characteristics  Segments of target market  Define expectations  Real and specific pain or need  Overall potential of primary market  Potential of secondary market(s)  Projected sales  Credible research data Who will buy your product or service? So What.

10. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 Describe Organizational Systems and Capacity to Perform  Activities and abilities that create value  Arrangements for mutual benefit of organization and customer  Estimated cost and charge to customers  Approach for transferring to customer  Suitability and superiority of organization's basic routine  Scalability and future capacity requirements  Plan for generating sufficient revenue Help me understand what is special about how you do what you do. So What.

11. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 Your Value Proposition  What your customer wants/needs  Specific benefits/results you provide  Ways you surpass competing or alternative solutions  Summarizes why your product/service should be bought So What.

12. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 Assessing Ideas  Ask why trends occur  Acknowledge intuition, but support with data  Fact based  Learn, Adapt and Improve  Avoid/minimize failure  Identify best person/organization for implementation  Patience and persistence So What.

13. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. Einstein  Xerox, 25 years and $75 million in research  Guitar Hero, 10 years leading to overnight success  Fed Ex, first night’s delivery include only 7 packages So What.

14. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 Super Successful Example So What. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpvEF_GIhmw

15. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 Outline Next Steps and Implementation Plan  Determine how you want to exit  Define major actions  Identify and address challenges  Describe experience and abilities needed  Find advisors and assistance  Estimate funding and resources to start and grow  Locate sources and plan for securing needed funds Now What?

16. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 People Succeed Technologies and Ideas merely Support Success Each of YOU Already Has What it Really Takes To Find Your Idea Now What?

17. L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY Technology Business Development Center GENERATE IDEAS EVALUATE IDEAS ACT ON THE IDEA PRESENT THE IDEA Finding Your Idea – October 8, 2009 What Else... Kathy Wyatt, Director Technology Business Development Center Louisiana Tech University P.O. Box 3145, Ruston, LA 71272 Phone: (318) 257-3537 Fax: (318) 257-4442 Email: kwyatt@latech.edu Now What?