How to Write an Effective Technology Overview and Value Proposition: Webcast Guidance for Tech Transfer and Startups

Laura Schoppe is the founder and president of Fuentek, LLC. She is currently chair of the AUTM Foundation. For AUTM, she formerly served as vice president of strategic alliances and chair of the Global Technology Portal Committee.

Whether you are a technology transfer manager seeking licensees for an innovation or an entrepreneur launching a technology-based startup, constructing an effective technology overview and its value proposition is paramount. These two related items play a crucial role in understanding and cultivating market interest in the technology. You use them in gathering market feedback as well as in implementing the marketing strategy.

So what are they?

The Technology Overview

Fuentek has found that an effective technology overview includes:

A description of the technology
Its potential benefits
Its potential applications

These are the characteristics that the market will be most interested in and that will factor into industry experts’ opinions of the technology’s commercial potential.

Since we discuss Technology Overviews in our webinar, Pitching for Innovators: Communicate at the Right Level for Any Audience, we’ve created a 4-minute webcast on “Effective Technology Overviews.”

The Value Proposition

The technology overview is the starting point for creating a well-defined value proposition — that is, a single sentence that incorporates the product that uses the technology, indicating the tangible results to that product’s customers and showing indisputable market leadership within a given target segment.

I think the best way to consistently write a strong value proposition is to follow this equation:

For [target customers] + who are dissatisfied with [the current market alternative/pain], + this technology/product/service is [description] + that provides [key problem-solving benefits].

Following this formula ensures you zero in on the details that are most important to the potential licensee, collaborator/partner, investor, or customer, helping achieve your goals for the tech transfer or startup effort.

Contact us to discuss how Fuentek can help you proactively and effectively manage your intellectual property.

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