16. Prof Greg O'Grady on moving from academia to startups
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Episode show notes
Today’s episode is a deep dive with Prof Greg O’Grady, a professor of surgery at the University of Auckland who has successfully made the transition from academia to the world of startups.
Greg is the co-founder and CEO of Allimetry. We previously had Hanie Yee, Allimetry's COO, on the show to discuss the nuts and bolts of research commercialization. Building on that discussion, Greg gives us a first-person account of what it was like to make the move, and shares invaluable insights about navigating the unique challenges and opportunities that come with bringing academic innovations to the commercial market.
If you're an academic contemplating a venture into the startup space, this episode is a must-listen!
Our conversation covers:
Challenges and strategies for academics transitioning to the startup environment
Communicating your vision clearly and persuasively to potential investors.
Early market validation to guide product development
Finding and defining your company's narrative.
Tailoring your messages to meet the specific needs and perspectives of various stakeholders.
Techniques to motivate and align your team towards common goals
Celebrating wins and maintaining morale within the team.
Adopting a quarterly approach to strategy to stay agile and responsive.
The benefits and challenges of having a co-founder.
Tracking metrics and keeping the team updated with regular progress reports
- Public engagement
- Storytelling
- Career development
- Team alignment
- Your pitch
- Making your work relatable
- Talks and presentations
- Strategic comms
- Communicating in different formats/mediums
- Stakeholder/audience mapping
- Listening
- Strategy
- Mentorship
- Collaborating with professional staff
- Comedy
- Failure
- Interdisciplinary collaboration
- Philanthropic funding
- Relationship management
- Community engagement
Credits:
Host & Producer: Chris Pahlow
Guest: Greg O’Grady
Edited by: Laura Carolina Corrigan
Consulting Producers: Maia Tarrell, Michelle Joy
Music by: La Boucle and Blue Steel, courtesy of Epidemic Sound
Quotes:
"Do it early and then take it really seriously and do it thoroughly and get as many views as you can. People are often a little bit afraid that their ideas might get stolen... They just have a fear of doing it. And I'd say you've just got to stick your neck out and talk to as many people as possible, getting many views and really laser on the questions that maybe you don't want to ask you want to get thorough on the problems, the challenges, the weaknesses, you know, whether they really are problems." - Prof Greg O'Grady
"And once people are aligned on the mission, they know where we're going, we're going to climb Everest or whatever it is, then they're motivated, right. And, if they're lacking that vision and purpose then they're gonna just drift around… Everyone loves the mission." - Prof Greg O'Grady
"You can talk to something or you can show the vision with a picture images and slides. So where I talked about before we went through that design process, it was really enabling to have that vision that we could put it in pictures for people to really understand where we were going with this." - Prof Greg O'Grady
"Sometimes when you're in the thick of the engine room, you don't necessarily stand back and look Oh, we've made all this progress and it's not until you kind of have these opportunities to sit back at whether it's team functions or the company birthday or whatever it is other celebrations or events where you can stand back and think, Oh, this is all the progress we've made, and thank the incredible people that we've got with us make this possible." - Prof Greg O'Grady
"Good people want to know what the plan is, right, and where they fit into that plan and they want to be excited about it and really understand the big picture. That's what good people want, and those are the people who I'm lucky to work with. And so if you don't do it, things pretty soon start getting squeaky." - Prof Greg O'Grady
