Phil Morle’s research commercialisation manifesto

I wanted a clear, crisp manifesto on research commercialisation. Here are 13 principles for bringing big ideas into the world.

1. We, the scientists, the inventors, the creators and the entrepreneurs, acknowledge that we live on a planet in trouble. Yet, we believe these problems can be solved with technology and human creativity.
2. We are optimistic about the future.
3. We know the world around us will change faster than ever before, and this is completely normal. We are resilient. We adapt.
4. We believe in radical collaboration. We can’t do this alone. We know what we bring, and we know what we need the others to deliver. We’re an open book. We are a beacon on the mountaintop to attract the other pieces to the puzzle.
5. We seek sherpas who move us forward, not gatekeepers who hold us back.
6. We resist silos and build our environments with permeable edges that we flow between.
7. We can never stop learning. We can never stop teaching. We must learn faster than the change that happens around us.
8. Solutions will remain obscure (or fought against and destroyed) if they do not bring citizens along on the journey. We believe that social change is harder than technology invention and must be considered simultaneously.
9. We have a bias for action over committees and long documents. Doing wins arguments.
10. We have a bias for velocity. Attack vectors and sharp focus. Burning platforms, not broad platforms.
11. We favour experiments and evidence over pontification and business plans.
12. We think in sprints, each one delivering an explicit step change in impact and value.
13. We try brave things. If they fail, we clap and learn.

• This post first appeared on Phil Morle’s Building Out Loud blog, where he writes about what he is learning in deep tech venture building. You can read more of them here. Follow him on Twitter at @philmorle

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