Dr Steve Collins, TCD and ex Havoc, talks on ‘The Challenges of Commercialising Research’ – 24th April 2009

Invent DCU was delighted to welcome Dr. Steve Collins to DCU to share his experience in commercialising technology. Steve is the co-founder of Havok, the premier provider of interactive software and services for digital media creators in the games and movie industries.

(Pictured L-R: Steve Collins and Richard Stokes)

Steve cited different challenges at different stages in developing his company Havok.

Stage 1: Initial Market Research – Great efforts were put into market research before Havoc was spun out of TCD.

Stage 2: Marketing and Rebranding – The “Havok” brand was created and the entrepreneurs approached customers in the US and UK. Their main challenges were lack of support in foreign markets, achieving sales targets and dealing with industry’s perception of a start-up.

Stage 3: Grow the Business – Havok acquired its competitor “Ipion” in 2000 and then went on to win several major deals with Adobe, Autodesk and Linden Lab. It managed to survive strong competition along with the dot com crash.

Stage 4: Consolidation & Restructure – After this process, the company went on to launch Havok 3, their first really successful product.

Stage 5: End Game for Founders – An experienced CEO with a strong customer focus is vital to company success. Havok was later acquired by Intel in 2007.

Steve’s advice to those academics and researchers thinking of starting up technology companies consisted of the following:

1. Talk to customers before creating products – Avoid build it and they will come.
2. It is not about engineering – Just do enough and prioritize items for customer focus.
3. Sell your product early – Sell beta version for early access to the market.
4. Get close to your customer – Sell and support customers locally.
5. Cash is, indeed, KING