Spin-outs

Universities increasingly encourage spin-out companies from their own departments, and interest from entrepreneurs and the commercial sphere is only set to develop further in coming years. With this in mind, Professor Graham Richards - an academic and businessman who has had many years of involvement with spin-out companies - has written this book as a guide and an inspiration for those who are thinking about commercialising intellectual property and creating a spin-out company. In an informative and enjoyable style he describes his personal experiences of the processes involved in launching a spin-out; from the key decisions that have to be made through to those inevitable mistakes to be learnt from. The University of Oxford has an outstanding record in forming spin-out companies, and has become one of the leading UK universities in this activity. Within the University, the Department of Chemistry has played a central role, with GBP80 million being contributed to university funds by spin-out companies that have emerged from the department. "Spin-Outs" provides an insight into how this has been achieved, and carefully signposts the route for taking an academic's intellectual property from the lab, to a start-up company and then on to flotation on the stock market. As a former head of Chemistry at Oxford, Professor Graham Richards is uniquely placed to describe this process. The author gives a real-life focus to his account by using illustrative examples of the businesses in which he was personally involved, drawing extensively on the case study of Oxford Molecular Ltd to show how this company was spun-out in practice. The book provides invaluable information for universities about what can be achieved and how. It also provides guidance to the entrepreneur with thoughts of creating a high-tech company: the pitfalls, the problems and what is needed, as well as an indication of the potential benefits to all concerned.

ISBN 1905641982   Pages 180 ISBN13 9781905641987 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Harriman House Publishing   Weight (grammes) 422 Imprint Harriman House Publishing   Published in Petersfield Format Hardback   Height (mm) 242 Publication date 12 Jan 2009   Width (mm) 160 DEWEY 338.04   Spine width (mm) 19 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level Professional / Scholarly

Preface 1. Introduction 2. A brief history of spin-outs 3. Technology Transfer 4. Starting a spin-out company 5. Oxford Molecular Ltd 6. Oxford Molecular Group Plc 7. Wider university coverage - IP Group Plc 8. Conclusions Appendices Index

GREAT BOOK! - Tim Burley

This is by far the best book I've ever read on the complex subject of technology spin-outs, and I've read a lot of them. As I live in Oxford and work in the area of technology transfer, I had been hearing about this upcoming book for quite some time. Honestly, I was expecting another letdown, thinking that if it was written by an 'academic,' it was probably not very useful. I'm pleased to report that my experience with this book was exactly the opposite.

The first half could almost be called a handbook on how to create successful spin-outs. Dr. Richard's extensive real world experience with this subject matter instantly shines through. He writes in an easy to read, down-to-earth style, and his sense of humor crops up often in the text. He takes a very complicated subject area and makes it simple to understand, particularly some of the softer 'people' issues which can be so difficult to deal with in real world spin-outs. I also enjoyed the historical background on spin-outs, which was concise and to the point--told me just what I needed to know without getting bogged down in too much detail. And the story of his own spin-out was fascinating.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick, clear primer on spin-outs, as well as those who are actively involved in creating these types of businesses. It has already helped me immeasurably with my own work.

Dr. Michael Wells
Teaching Fellow - Entrepreneurship
Research & Enterprise Unit
City University London - Dr. Michael Wells



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