In some cases, UA researchers wish to take concrete steps to deliver their innovations to society, and elect to start a small company to accomplish that goal, often while maintaining a University of Arizona position. Starting a small company can be a challenge, but it is not an extraordinary occurrence.

Inputs

When considering starting a small company, founders might want to take an inventory of necessary inputs, such as:

• A vision, i.e., a simple but clear statement about what products or services the new company will sell; how those goods or services will be produced, managed, and delivered; and who will buy the offered goods or services
• An "unfair advantage" that the company will use to compete; this could be a unique expertise of the founders or a license to patented technology
• Resources, such as the time and energy of the founders, financing, off-campus incubator facilities or special equipment, and initial customer relationships
• Strategic partners, like other individuals or existing companies that will, for their own commercial benefit, cooperate with the new company to accomplish goals that might be difficult or inefficient for a start-up to pursue on its own
• Expert advisors, such as business mentors and accounting and legal professionals

Process

For a faculty-founded company to be built around intellectual property developed at the University of Arizona, a typical sequence would include at least the following items:

• Contact OTT to begin the IP disclosure process to the University and, at that time, express interest in licensing the IP in a private, non-University, capacity
• Prepare and submit a separate Enabling Disclosure, seeking Arizona Board of Regents approval for starting a commercial entity based on IP licensed from ABOR and, if required, establishing memoranda describing how potential conflict of interest issues will be mitigated (see related deadlines)
• With appropriate professional advice, organize the company, e.g. as a Limited Liability Company, C-Corporation, etc.
• Contemporaneously with some of the above steps, identify appropriate off-campus facilities for the new company.

Resources

Faculty founders of a small company can take advantage of several resources with, or associated with, the University of Arizona, including:

• The Office of Technology Transfer, which can help strategize the consolidation and license of intellectual property rights, and provide qualified introductions to local angel investors and venture capital firms
• The Eller College of Management, which can provide assistance with business plans through student participation in its McGuire Entrepreneurship Program
• The Arizona Center for Innovation (AZCI), a U of A-affiliated high-tech small business incubator
• Ernst & Young provided OTT with their "Outline for a Business Plan" and permission to distribute it to our Faculty-Entrepreneurs. 

Inspiration by Example

Starting a small company might seem like a formidable undertaking, but the many examples of startups based on U of A technologies suggest that doing so is feasible with appropriate planning and by taking advantage of available resources.