As part of the Entrepreneurship Centers guest speaker's series, KAUST recently hosted Paul Thurk. Thurk is a Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners. He joined the company in 2002 as a Kauffman Fellow and manages ARCH's European office based in Dublin, Ireland.

During his presentation to students aspiring to become entrepreneurs, Thurk spoke of how you can take the nucleus of a basic idea or innovation and mold it into a profitable and useful commodity. He also talked to them about how to form a startup company from scratch – and the potential for pitfalls along the way.

GOING FROM CLASSROOM TO BOARDROOM

Thurk began his presentation, entitled "From Classroom to Boardroom: Keys to Success for University Spinouts," by challenging the attendees with a few questions. "Do you have a company? Or do you have a licensing opportunity? Why is the world going to want this kind of thing?" he asked.

While he told them it could be hard to substantiate their idea and to establish credibility with investors, he did give them some key advice. "It helps if you can get best and most credible minds in your field to stand up and endorse your product," he said. "The more you can tie onto someone of eminence, the better."

At the core of any successful company or venture you will find the key ingredient is teamwork. "What you really want to do is wait as long as you can so you can hire the right people. From the get-go, you need to be surrounded by the best people. The best teams are the ones that have done it before and know it cold," he said.

He went on to tell the group that one way to get these initial people is to bring them in as consultants. Plus, they need to remember to always stick to the hierarchy not what's the easiest but what's the best. "You need particular aspects. It has to be applicable to a large and preferable growing market that is open to new entrants and has multiple players. You also need to have a clear plan and a good team," he said.

DON'T FOLLOW THE MARKET; LEAD IT

Thurk pointed out how to be a successful startup you must figure out where the market is heading rather than attending to where it is now. He also stressed the need for flexibility and how your project should be milestone driven."If you want to raise money, put in the amount of money you want to raise, and then set specific goals you can hit with that money. The higher the evaluation is the better. This is pretty important from an investor's perspective," he advised.

He also stated the need for thought "outside of the box" and to be cognizant of the outside world. "If you can spot a problem in the market and solve it, or fill the missing link that is holding back a groundswell of potential, the opportunities are endless," he said.

AVOIDING COMMON START-UP PITFALLS

Using examples from the numerous case studies from companies he's been involved with, Thurk discussed another major area where startups fail: poorly formed business plans, and more specifically, an inefficient initial tender or pitch to possible investors.

"Sometimes we get a pitch that can have half a dozen attachments and most of these end up in the 'must read later' pile. If something is short and really vivid, say a presentation consisting of twenty slides, it makes a huge difference. At the end of the day, all you want to do is get your foot in the door a couple of inches," he said.

"Honesty" also came up as a recurring theme throughout his presentation. "You need to honest. You don't want to blow your credibility from the off; you need a lot of trust in these deals. They are by nature very inter-personal and you don't want to compromise your trust with an investor. Building trust and credibility with employees, investors, whoever, you have to be honest as you can. "

Thurk also warned students of the difference between what you might gauge as a success and a "hole in the market" versus the buying public. "You invent something in the lab and you want to see something big become of it. I know it sounds obvious, but sometimes when working on something in the lab that you find interesting, others might not necessarily share your opinion that it is really that wonderful. There are no shortages of things that are better for humankind that humankind doesn't want to pay for. It's the saddest thing ever, but it is also the reality," he said.

In finishing, Thurk reminded students of the potential for innovation and success here at KAUST. "There is a nice setup here at KAUST you have the resources, plus the ability to use university facilities in the initial launch stages," he said. "At the end of the day if you get the right backing and the right people the rest will work out. Thomas Edison was quoted as saying I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

By David Murphy, KAUST News