Innovation and Entrepreneurship involves many steps – from idea to developing, testing and evaluating a product and a business model as well as strategies for developing and protecting your valuable intellectual property.

Take It to Market: Idea, Build, & Market

You will need to learn how to research the competitive landscape, protect intellectual property, develop business and marketing plans, obtain funding, and go to market.

  • Embrace entrepreneurial thinking
  • Understand the difference between a good idea and an opportunity
  • Build a strong team with diverse skills
  • Protect your intellectual property
  • Evaluate real-world potential for a new innovation, device, or product
  • Create an effective business model and plan to execute
  • Identify the right investors and raise capital -
  • Make the right marketing and distribution decisions
  • Understand deal-making, valuation, negotiation, strategy, and communication
Resources
  • Identify what kind of innovation you have - review Doblin for ways to articulate why your innovation is unique and worth pursuing.
  • Check out the Small Business Development Center, co-located with TI&ED in the Ice House, for examples of various plans (business plans)
  • Check out our Guidance and Process section for information on protecting your intellectual property!
  • The TI&ED team can help you to identify local and state funding via investors as well as grants and research partnerships (see Startup Resources for more information)
  • Link to prototyping spaces on campus JMU XLabs
  • Society of Entrepreneurs - James Madison University entrepreneurially minded student club

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