FITT (Fostering Interregional Exchange in ICT Technology Transfer)

1. FITT (Fostering Interregional Exchange in ICT Technology Transfer)

2. What is INRIA Transfert BarCamp? • 3-days residential interactive seminar about company creation • role-playing (participants develop and present their project) • coaching • teaching (INRIA Transfert staff & invited experts) • A starter for researchers - entrepreneurs • a realistic exercise of management of company creation & growth • an opportunity to express one’s ideas and to receive feedback • essential information, tools and contacts provided • Goal: convince the “would – be” entrepreneurs • changing mindsets • encouraging to enter the business environment Source: Microsoft Office Images Clipart

3. BarCamp in Practice • Internal event organised 3 - 4 times a year for INRIA staff • To built awareness of all aspects of company creation: development of the project, team construction, administrative steps, financial matters, challenges and possible obstacles • The “role-playing” concept • Focused more on “learning by experiencing” than on technical issues • The “camp” concept • Three days in residence, full-time interaction between participants, coachers and experts • The program is evolving within a fixed framework • The lectures and case studies are followed by working sessions with coachers and group work inside of the teams; two assessment sessions during the event. • INRIA Transfert provides the right peopleINRIA’s subsidiary, charged with supporting start-up projects, provides experienced coachers and experts from its staff and numerous contacts among business people, consultants and investors

4. Program scheme

5. The rules of the game

6. When? • Timing • First BarCamp organised in January 2008 • The concept has been tested during 2008: 4 “regular” BarCamps and 2 “light” versions for students • The frequency is 3 - 4 times per year; it will increase after opening BarCamp to participants from other organisations

7. Who? • Stakeholders • BarCamp event: 16 trainees, 3 full-time trainers and 8 experts for projects assessment (jury) and coaching • To launch a BarCamp event: one person is enough, as the scheme is well described • To carry out the event: minimum 2 persons, 3 persons is optimal to better manage the time dedicated to coaching • Participants • Profile: open, curious, motivated to gain new experience, with research background, concerned and close to start-up projects, ready to work intensively during 3 days; age and experience do not play a role • Selection: INRIA members, priority to those who already have a start-up project at short or medium term; those who want to discover are welcomed if places are available; their participation boosts the group dynamics

8. Where? • Location • Near Paris, Vallée de Chevreuse • Organised at the national level, involving INRIA’s headquarters (Transfer and Innovation Department, general management) and INRIA Transfert, as well as regional TT officers

9. PRO’s and CON’s PRO’s CON’s • Role playing and case solving with presence of high level experts renowned in Paris region; exchange between various actors is easy • Learning by experience during BarCamp work, even if the problems to solve are fictive • No ‘theoretical’ lectures, but overview of main concepts and lessons learned • Visible impact on motivation of participants with “entrepreneurship spirit”, which get stimulated by role-playing experience • Innovative concept; residential seminar • Some elements are necessary to succeed: strong and experienced organisation team, homogeneity of culture, quality of experts, construction of trainees group; if one or more of them are weak points, the risk of failure is high • It is difficult to try similar approach without the specific know-how (the best is to contact INRIA Transfert which can share it)

10. Why ? (1/2) Source: Microsoft Office Images Clipart Source: Microsoft Office Images Clipart

11. Why ? (2/2) • Impact: • Participants express higher motivation to go into start-up • The future entrepreneur can realise the challenges he will have to face; this will help him to anticipate the problems and to take decisions • Examples of participants feedback: • “Yesterday I believed that technology was doing all by itself; I started to create a company and now I change the way I used to think about its development.” • “I understood that if I wouldn’t go into the start-up, being the technology creator, the company had no chances to succeed.”

12. Outcome

13. Lessons Learned • The main part of success comes from unique competencies and know-how: training mode, relations with trainees, expert’s quality are determinant • The scheme of BarCamp is well funded, but still evolving, taking into account new ideas and improvements

14. Suggested Readings • Link to bibliography: • Boosting the knowledge valorisation process: putting plans into action. - Direct your university towards entrepreneurship, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Technopartner 2006 • Creating University Spin-Offs : A Science-Based Design Perspective; Elco Van Burg, Georges L. Romme, Victor A. Gilsing, Isabelle M.M. J. Reymen, Product Development & Management Association 2008 • Link to code book: • Creativity, Start-up, University Spinoffs, Coaching, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship • Link to related websites: • www.inria-transfert.fr • www.inria.fr/valorisation/index.fr