Monica Ekberg, Adrian Glinqvist and Ivo Todorov during the discussion. Photo: Margareta Ohné.

Starting your own business was the topic of a meeting of the Future Ecologists network on 27 November. All master and PhD students (not only ecologists) were invited, as well as a few alumni with their own experience and some teachers. The aim of the meeting was for participants to find out how much help they can get if they want to start their own business and to learn from others' experiences. 

From the university, Mona Wilcke, CEO of SU Holding AB, and Monica Ekberg and Ivo Todorov, both innovation advisors at the Office for Research, Engagement and Innovation Services, participated. In addition, Adrian Glinqvist from Drivhuset, an organisation that is present in many university towns and helps students start their own businesses, also participated. Both Monica and Mona are biologists and have defended their PhDs at SU. All four talked about their activities and then there was plenty of time for questions and comments from the audience. 

What can you get help with?

The vast majority of start-ups fail. Common reasons are that they produce something that nobody really wants or that the timing is wrong. That's why it's important to get feedback on your idea. Does it hold up, could someone be interested, is it the right time to launch it? You can find out all this by talking to those who have experience. If the idea holds, you can get further help to develop it. You can also make important contacts and you may even get help to develop a prototype. 

As far as timing is concerned, the growing AI sector offers great opportunities for new thinking and innovation. AI provides entirely new tools to solve problems, so for many projects, now is exactly the right time! 

Who should you turn to if you have an idea? It depends on how far along you are in your academic career. Drivhuset works mainly with students, while SU's innovation advisors primarily help develop research results. When the idea has matured and it's time to start the company, SU Holding can help and, in the best case, contribute with start-up capital. All help is completely free!

What does a biologist with experience say?

Tore Bengtsson. Photo: Margareta Ohné.

Tore Bengtsson is a professor at MBW who researches obesity and diabetes, areas that have inspired ideas for new treatments - and new companies. Tore now has a long list of patents, he has raised millions in start-up capital and his company employs over 75 people. 

But it hasn't always been easy. If you want to know what problems you might encounter when starting your own business, ask Tore. But he also has views on how to tackle the problems and he is happy to give good advice. Above all, he emphasises the importance of convincing a potential financier: ‘The most important thing is not your idea, but your ability to persuade someone else to invest in your idea’. A prerequisite is of course that you believe in the idea yourself, but you also need to build your credibility externally and you can do that by demonstrating deep knowledge of what you are doing: ‘Investors don't know a thing about what you want to do, but they are good at deciding who to believe’. 

Why start your own business?

Considering that many problems have to be solved when starting a new business and that so many new businesses fail anyway, you might wonder if it is even worth trying?

One reason is that - just like research - it is about problem solving. If you find research exciting and rewarding, you can probably find the same about starting a business. And isn't it appealing to be able to create something that matters to other people? It may even be possible to make money from it, both for you and for the person who invested in your idea. 

Finally, a word of advice from Tore: if you are going to seek support from a potential funder, don't write an email - most emails are discarded immediately - call!

Upcoming meetings

On 12 February, there is a labour market day for scientists from 12 - 16 in Aula Magna. If you are planning to attend the labour market day, it is wise to participate in a preparatory meeting with Alexandra Balogh and Birgitta Åkerman on 5 February at 15:30-16:00 in E306.

The next meeting with the Future Ecologists network will be in April.

In April, a start-up meeting with the new network for master's students in Molecular Bioscience is also planned.