Research Stories

by Conrad J. Storad

On the NASCAR circuit, the planet’s most talented stock car drivers do all they can to avoid a “Spin Out.” In the world of network and cable television, popular programs often lead to “Spin Offs,” and lots of potential advertising revenue. Julia Rosen understands those concepts. But what she really wants to do is “Spin In” a new means of innovation and cooperation between university researchers and the business community.

Rosen is associate vice president for innovation and entrepreneurship with Arizona State University’s Office of Research and Economic Affairs. She is responsible for the direction and advancement of SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center. SkySong is designed to help companies grow by providing business services and programs offered by ASU. These services include access to new technologies, capital networks, business education and a skilled workforce.

Rosen says that “Spin In” is a shift from an old business model that was designed to “start up” or “spin off” new companies based on entrepreneurial ideas. University-operated research parks are based on that idea. So are city-based business incubators or community-run innovation accelerators. Such programs are usually designed to assist entrepreneurial scientists, engineers, and other creative people to launch new business ventures.

“The “Spin In” strategy provides a new mechanism for a business relationship between the university and an outside company,” Rosen says. “That relationship is based on services and value provided by the university, and an alignment of interest for the company’s long-term success.”

In other words, “Spin In” represents a different way of orienting the concept of technology transfer from exclusively looking within the university. The idea is to look outward in a wide arc around the world for commercialization opportunities and invite companies in to be partners.

ASU and SkySong gain an equity stake in any new venture via the “Spin In” strategy, Rosen explains. “However, as a public institution, ASU is prohibited from holding equity outright. So Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTe) holds equity on behalf of ASU,” she says. “If any “Spin In” venture makes it big, then ASU and SkySong will benefit in their success. The strategy expands ASU’s network of business relationships beyond just those emanating from within the university. They all become part of the expanded ASU-SkySong community.”

The timing may be perfect for SkySong’s “Spin In” strategy. Writing in the August 2009 issue of the Science Progress newsletter, author Anthony Townsend discussed the future for university-run science parks.

“President Barak Obama’s 2010 budget proposal calls for spending $50 million in 2010 to create a nationwide network of public-private business incubators,” wrote Townsend, research director in the Technology Horizons Program at the Institute for the Future, a Silicon Valley-based think tank established in 1968. “The intent is to encourage entrepreneurial activity in economically distressed areas, alongside another $50 million to develop regional centers of innovation. However, in the United States, federal, state and local governments are attempting to plug gaps into a deeply strained national innovation system.”

He then added, “The SkySong expansion of Arizona State University’s campus in Scottsdale is a blueprint for how to orient university research around rapid technology transfer to industry and entrepreneurship.”

Rosen says that the “Spin In” approach expands the pipeline of technologies in which the university has a stake or interest. “The strategy provides a new mechanism for a business relationship between the university and an outside company. That relationship is based on services and value provided by the university, and an alignment of interest for the company’s long-term success.

“This approach provides for a long-term connection between the university and a small company or larger corporation,” Rosen says. “Businesses like the concept because they understand that ASU’s interests are aligned with their interests. A ‘Spin In’ provides a two-way connection that benefits both partners.”

The “Spin In” strategy is not a “one-hit wonder” approach to technology transfer. Rosen says that ASU does not need the next Gatorade or Taxol or some similar invention to generate huge royalty revenue or licensing fees.

“Our idea is to work with a number of companies,” she says. “We are trying to build a rich, vibrant, multidimensional, multilayered network that encompasses as many nodes as possible to maximize the chances of overall success. ‘Spin In‘ is a strategy to build long-term business relationships. It is not about flipping a quick deal.”

By forging a vibrant network of the smartest innovators and entrepreneurs around the world, Rosen and other leaders at SkySong believe that both ASU and the greater Phoenix metropolitan area will benefit. There will be new companies and new jobs. The area will benefit from a richer, more diversified economic base. ASU will become even more attractive to potential faculty members and students. And Arizona’s business profile will be propelled to a global level.