Case Study of Technology Commercialization by Robin Winsor.

1. Technology Commercialization
Case Study
Robin Winsor

2. There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries
Julius Caesar. Act IV, Scene 3

3. Agenda
• Technology Description
• Timeline
• Struggles, Setbacks and Successes
• Lessons Learned
• What’s Changed

4. What does IDC do?

7. Competing Technologies circa 2000
Digital "Family Tree"
Film Scanners
Kodak
CR Fuji
Agfa
DR
Flat Panel CCD
A:Se A:Si CMOS Multi-Camera Single Camera
Kodak GE / Seimens CaresBuilt SwissRay IDC

8. CMOS

9. Market
45 secs Large hospitals Foothills+
350k DR
8.5 mins Small & Medium
CR Hospitals
125k
8 mins FILM Clinics
Cost (US$)

10. Market
750 Large hospitals
350k DR
10,000 Small & Medium
CR Hospitals
125k
Uncounted FILM Clinics
Cost (US$)

11. Market
750 Large hospitals
350k DR
10,000 Small & Medium
CR Hospitals
125k IDC : 45secs : <$150k
Uncounted FILM Clinics
Cost (US$)

12. TimeLine
November 8th, 1895
November 8th, 1995

13. TimeLine
New Products
Downsize
New Building
U.S.”Expert” arrives
Clinical Use
Mgmt financing
Rapid Expansion
N.American
Liquidate assets
Production Ramp-Up
Luminary Sites
SalesU.S.”Expert” Growth
Rapid Revenue
Scientific Validation
Regulatory Approvals
Clinical Testing International Distribution
leaves
$$ Revenues $$
Mutiny OEM Partners

14. Company Value Over Time
$1,000,000,000
$100,000,000
$10,000,000
Market Cap
$1,000,000
$100,000
20-Oct-93 16-Jul-96 12-Apr-99 06-Jan-02 02-Oct-04 29-Jun-07 25-Mar-10

15. Futures

16. Lessons Learned
• Trust
• It has to be earned
• Don’t discount the bizarre
• Beware of new friends in good times

17. Lessons Learned
• Contingency Plans
• Save for a rainy day… it rains a lot !

18. Lessons Learned
• Build The Right Team For Each Stage
• Scientists NEED marketers and financiers and …
• Management team must complement, not duplicate,
each other
• Finder / Minder / Grinder
• Expect and celebrate change in the lineup
• Do the paperwork

19. Lessons Learned
• Build An Active Board
• Think carefully before putting a customer on BoD
• Don’t appoint for appearances sake, make it WORK
• Try for diversity

20. Lessons Learned
• Know When To Let Go
• If you can do it all, you’re not doing enough
• “There is no limit to how much a man can
accomplish or how far he can succeed as long as
he doesn't mind who gets the credit”

21. Lessons Learned
• Know What You Do
• Core competencies
• Be clear
• Keep checking for drift

22. Lessons Learned
• Lawyers Can Be Your Friends
• Don’t cheap out on legal services
• Understand their specialities
• Look for chemistry
• File plenty of patents

23. Lessons Learned
• Pay Your Taxes Happily
• Cybera
• National Research Council (NRC)
• Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP)
• Alberta Heritage Fund for Medical Research
• Shad Valley
Keep it in Canada

24. Lessons Learned
• Culture
• Why do you and your staff work so hard – is it for the
same reasons ?
– Fun
– $$$ / Options
– Vision

25. Corporate Vision
To provide the highest
quality, most cost-
effective digital
radiography (DR)
products in the
healthcare market

26. Vision
Tuberculosis
35% of the world’s population infected

27. Lessons Learned
• Believe In Angels
• Douglas Street
• Geoffrey Galley
• …and be sure they believe in you

28. Lessons Learned
• Retail Investors
• Most brokers don’t care
• Learn the elevator pitch
• Expect turbulence

29. Lessons Learned
• Institutional Investors
• Fund Managers DO care
• Know your numbers
• Expect to be held accountable

30. Lessons Learned
Image Radiation
AREA Cost
Quality Dose
North
America 1 2 3
Europe 2 1 3
Asia 2 3 1

31. Lessons Learned
China is a huge market
Chinese prefer Chinese
Protect your IP, then go

39. What Has Changed
• Barriers to entry
– Equipment costs falling
– Information easy to access
– Regulatory is a little easier
– Computing power increased by ~8000 x
– Design, prototype cycle reduced from weeks to days
– Competitors know what you’re doing

40. What Hasn’t Changed
• Need for a good team
• Need for financing
• Need for hard work
• Need for speed

41. There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when serves,
Or lose our ventures.
Julius Caesar. Act IV, Scene 3

42. ? ? ? Questions ? ? ?