The Spinoff: Part 1 (Problem Solvers)

A new book I’m writing called The Spinoff aims to solve a puzzle: how do you spin out global commercial health ventures from Universities, hospitals and think tanks?

I’m interested in the habits of researcher entrepreneurs whose low-cost inventions have dramatically improved global health. To me they are like journeymen boxers who win after 12 rounds – despite punch after punch after punch: legal gobbledygook; academic jealousies; venture capitalists who challenge them on their grasp of ‘unit economics’; institutional administrators whose default answer is ‘no’; and the chorus of critics who think the slightest commercial gain from research is akin to rotting landfill.