Some Suggestions for University-Based Entrepreneurship

Some observations and suggestions from recent years mentoring National Science and Technology Council research-commercialization and innovation-entrepreneurship programs, including FITI. First, I strongly support these programs. We often attribute American innovation to active founders and VCs, yet VC rarely participates in the earliest technological innovation, where risks are high and returns limited. Investors usually wait for the right moment to gain the greatest innovation returns from relatively small investment. Who continually funds that extremely risky, low-return early stage? Government. Taiwan needs foresighted government willing to bear early technology risk and build a suitable national innovation system. Government does not merely create conditions for innovation; it is itself a participant. Competition among nations depends not only on founders’ abilities, but on public foresight and commitment to frontier technologies. This underlies my continued support for university programs run by the council and other ministries. Second, professors and students must find real demand. Ideally start with why, then how and what. Academic ventures often reverse this, beginning with technology or a product and searching for applications. If the need is not urgent, market education takes time. It is a hammer looking for nails, making entrepreneurship harder. Why matters because entrepreneurship is difficult. Failure is normal; success is exceptional. Find your mission and passion to endure setbacks with partners. I encourage FITI teams to stay connected with their cohort and build mutual support on the turbulent road. For discovering real-world problems and demand, use open questions rather than leading customers by asking whether your problem or solution matters. A venture with absolutely no demand is uncommon, but demand may be weak and low priority, leaving customers unwilling to pay and growth slow. Early ventures and initial business models will pivot. An original industry or customer may reject the offering, while another application succeeds. Explore needs thoroughly. The ‘1230’ guideline offers one-to-one, two-hour, open-ended interviews with thirty customers to understand their problems and real needs. Apply Charles Munger’s maxim, ‘Fish where the fish are.’ Customers with both strong willingness and ability to pay make progress easier. Not everyone must like you or your venture. Find customers and investors who do, focus resources on them, and set others aside. Do not let rejection undermine confidence. Finally, professors often hesitate to leave academic posts. They are intelligent, rigorous, and technically distinctive, but commitment and an escape route can become problems. Staying offers university resources, students, and a title that helps business contacts—arguments made to investors and to themselves. Yet entrepreneurship is perilous. Cutting off retreats and moving forward decisively may improve the chance of success. My advice is that determination and belief matter most. Only your own wholehearted commitment can persuade excellent people to give up other opportunities and join. Consider eMemory founder Dr. Charles Hsu (徐清祥), among Taiwan’s most successful academic entrepreneurs. The company is now worth over 220 billion. Before founding it in 2000, he was a National Tsing Hua University electrical engineering professor and director of its electronics institute. He left his post at forty to build today’s eMemory. To succeed, first commit yourself fully and move forward without looking back.