A practical guide to business start-up: the commercial potential of your idea

  • Date: , 12:15 - 13:45
  • Venue: Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh Campus, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, Scotland
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Dr Olga Kozlova, Enterprise Creation Manager, co-ordinates a monthly seminar series aimed at providing budding entrepreneurs with useful advice and tips on starting a company.

As well as guiding participants through the exciting and challenging world of high tech start-ups, it assists potential Converge Challenge applicants formulate their business ideas and plans.

Sessions are open to postdoctoral research and academic staff, and PhD, MSc, MRes and final year degree students from Heriot-Watt University or research pools of which Heriot-Watt University is a member.

About this seminar

When is a good idea a good idea? Our second seminar helped you to identify the commercial potential of your research and included an overview of:

  • first steps to evaluating the idea
  • carrying out initial market assessments
  • types of commercialisation

Download the presentation slides and audio from this seminar::

About the speaker, Dr Ian Brotherston

The seminar was delivered by Dr Ian Brotherston, Business Development Manager at Heriot-Watt University, who has first hand experience in business start-ups and will deliver invaluable advice on how to determine the potential of an idea and identify opportunities to commercialise your research.

Ian was previously the Science and Technology Director of Ionic Polymer Solutions, a start-up company developing membranes for fuel cells and was responsible for research, development and commercialisation.

Ian has over 15 years experience of directing, defining and managing highly innovative research programmes across a wide variety of scientific disciplines. He has successfully moved from being a laboratory scientist to a respected manager and is an authority on defining and winning innovative and visionary research programmes within science and technology businesses. He previously worked for DERA (now QinetiQ) and was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at The University of Dallas at Texas.