Entrepreneurs & Experts Podcast Series - 2012

This theme of this session was to provide a case for using consulting as a means for getting started down the entrepreneurial route. Consulting can either become a full blown business or may be used to leverage intellectual assets to create companies. Cambridge has seen both phenomena. One of the interesting features of the Cambridge entrepreneurial ecosystem is that there are over 3,000 technology based consultants. In addition to technical excellence, they also bring with them commercial skills to enable technologies to reach markets. Three highly experienced consultants working in Cambridge today shared their knowledge and experiences at the Enterprise Tuesday lecture series.

The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) interviewed Lewis Liu, Co-founder and President at CamGaN, and Andrew Lynn, entrepreneur and former CEO of OrthoMimetics and CamGaN, about their involvement in the success of University spin-out CamGaN which was formed in October 2010 to commercialise ground-breaking research in the field of gallium nitride based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) at the University of Cambridge. These two are graduates of the University of Cambridge's Department of Materials Science and attended CfEL's Ignite programme. They talk about the challenges of bringing this University-based technology to market.

Read CamGaN's press release (8 Feb 2012) »

The first Enterprise Tuesday session of the Lent term starts with two investors who have, between them, helped to incubate nearly 100 businesses during their respective careers. These experts have experienced the roller coaster ride of forming teams, breaking up dysfunctional teams and reforming them. They have also experienced developing and working with successful, star teams. They will talk about what they look for, how they make judgements, when they make changes and how they find talent.

One of the most frequently cited reasons for the success or failure of a venture is the effective formation and development of the team. This session will focus on how the composition of teams based on experience, expertise, chemistry, soft skills and shared purpose and values can impact success. It will also deal with the role of the 'Alpha entrepreneur', born or made leadership qualities, characteristics, competences, the ability to change and the ability to manage detail.