Rutgers Optimizes Innovation is helping train the next generation of inventors and take their discoveries to the next level by providing learning and enrichment resources and access to experts and hands-on training in building successful business models and product development.
Quick Guides
External Resources
NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
The NIH offers many resources (internal and external) to help researchers think through the translational and commercialization aspects of innovation. The following are just a few that may be helpful:
- Translational Science and Skills – Roles and Characteristics of a Translational Scientist
- NCATS Toolkit for Patient-Focused Therapy Development
- Drug Discovery, Development, and Deployment Maps
Videos About Customer Discovery
Customer discovery (market need) is an essential part of commercializing an innovation. Without a customer, there is no business. Below are a series of video clips hosted by Steve Blank, a recognized entrepreneur whose methods are widely used and cited (including by the National Science Foundation's I-Corps program).
- “How to Do Customer Discovery”
- Pre-Planning: Contacts
- Customer Interview Dry Runs
- Pass/Fail Experiments
- Conducting a Customer Interview
- Looking for Insights
- Death By PowerPoint
- Understanding the Problem
Free Online Courses
Business Model Canvas
Created by Alexander Osterwalder and widely used by entrepreneurs, the Business Model Canvas is a template for documenting and developing a new or improving an existing business model.