The Hawaii Spinout Summit

                                                               Thursday, July 30, 2009

                                                            The Kahala Hotel and Resort

                                                                7:30 a.m. Registration
                                                                8:00–11:45 a.m. Program
                                                                Noon–1:30 p.m. Lunch and Keynote
                                       Cost: $65 ($50 for university faculty, students & administrators)


The Hawaii Spinout Summit will provide a forum for discussing principles of investing and key challenges, issues and opportunities facing Hawaii research universities and institutions, dual use companies, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors seeking to spinout research into companies.  Millions of research dollars are spent in Hawaii each year by Universities and private research institutions on technologies, yet few of these technologies are spun off into companies with commercial potential.  The Summit represents an ideal opportunity to interact with professors, researchers, executives, investors and entrepreneurs interested in identifying, evaluating and then spinning off promising technologies into private companies. 

The lunchtime keynote will be Katharine Ku, Director of the Office of Technology Licensing (OTL) at Stanford University.  As Director of OTL, Ms. Ku has managed and overseen many licensing arrangements and high profile spinouts from Stanford University, including Google, Yahoo!, SUN, Silicon Graphics and MIPS.  Also participating in the program is Craig Johnson, co-founder of Venture Law Group and now Virtual Law Partners.

The Hawaii Investors Summit will feature interactive sessions addressing key issues, including:

•    Identifying and Evaluating Promising Technologies – A panel discussion exploring techniques and issues relating to identifying and then evaluating promising technologies at research universities and institutions.  The goal—to provide a framework for researchers, entrepreneurs and investors to select the “right” technologies to spin out into startup companies that can attract venture capital.  Topics will include understanding the science, evaluating the market potential, working with the inventors, and venture capital perspectives and requirements.

•    Licensing Technologies From Universities: Successful Terms and Strategies – After you’ve identified a promising technology, the next major challenge is successfully negotiating and executing a license to the technology that will provide the foundation for the company’s success.  A panel of experts from the legal, accounting and business sectors will explore the critical issues and considerations that you must understand to negotiate a successful license agreement, and will explore the various licensing philosophies and procedures adopted by universities.

•    Spinouts: Critical Issues and Solutions – Forming a startup company from technology developed by a university, research institution or other third party raises a myriad of business, legal, accounting, human resource and other issues.  A panel of experts will explore these issues and offer solutions and strategies.
   
•    Keynote:  Creating Innovation and Commercialization at Universities.  Our lunchtime keynote speaker, Ms. Katharine Ku, will share her experiences as Director of the Office of Technology Licensing at Stanford, and address how innovation may thrive within a university context and lead to commercialization.

Questions? Please contact:

Rachel at rachel@hibeam.org, or Greg at gkim@virtuallawpartners.com