Overview
BiostartupAdvice.com’s simulations help early career women life scientists explore the career option of starting a business. They will gain an understanding of what is involved and what approaches are most likely to succeed. The simulations are based on women scientists who have started businesses. Users will also find supportive readings, interactive materials, and curated resources.
Target Audience
The main target audience is women life scientists in training or early career, especially those who have had minimal entrepreneurial interest, knowledge, or confidence. The target audience includes:
- Undergraduate students in 3rd and 4th year
- Graduate students
- Postdocs or interns
- Early career scientists
- Established career scientists looking for a career change
- Early entrepreneurs
BiostartupAdvice.com can continue to serve as a resource in the early stages of founding a business.
Why?
Women have been under-represented in Life Science business startups. Relatively few women life scientists become entrepreneurs. Although women receive around half of life science PhDs and hold almost half of the research positions, they head only 12% of bio startups. Life scientists starting a business typically need to learn essential business skills. However, women often encounter additional barriers, such as funding bias, male-dominated networks of biotechnology and venture capital, and having few female role models.
Successful entrepreneurship requires awareness of resources and successful approaches, tapping into available support, confidence to overcome barriers, and skills to avoid common mistakes.
How BiostartupAdvice.com Can Help
BioStartupAdvice.come utilizes:
- Simulations and case stories
- Introductory-level information key point summaries and links to read more
- Interactive quizzes and self-check surveys
- Curated external resources.
The simulations utilize fictional women life scientist role models based on real-life women scientists to help women life scientists explore the possibility of entrepreneurship as a career option. The basics covered include the steps to launch a business, intellectual property, funding, and communication skills. Life scientists will gain confidence that they could pursue business ideas as they navigate realistic scenarios and learn about real-world resources.
Objectives
Women life scientists who are not entrepreneurs will gain self-efficacy and beliefs that they could start a business and succeed, increase their intention to look into the possibility, and become more familiar with what is involved. Assessment and enhancement of early entrepreneurial self-confidence, intent, interest, beliefs, and knowledge are emphasized:
Self-confidence:
- That they could successfully start a business someday.
- In describing their science and business ideas to others.
Intentions to:
- Explore the career option of starting a life science business.
- Take steps to develop their careers to improve their chances of business success someday.
- Explore the option of obtaining SBIR funding.
Beliefs:
- Believe more strongly that women scientists can succeed in business.
- Believe more strongly that starting a business is a viable career option for women scientists.
Knowledge:
- Understand common rewards and motivations associated with starting your own business.
- Have a realistic understanding of the potential life impact of starting a small business.
- Understand the different types of funding available for starting a small business.
- Have a basic understanding of the overall process of obtaining an SBIR grant.
- Recognize the key parts of a business plan.
- Be able to describe career development steps and skills that would support entrepreneurship.
- Learn basic components involved in successfully pitching a business idea.
Funding: Biostartup Advice is being developed by Clinical Tools, Inc(CTI) with funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (Grants #’s 1R43 GM131458-01 and 2R44GM131458-02). We gratefully acknowledge this support, which was the sole funding source for this project’s development.
