A longitudinal study of success and failure among scientist-started ventures

We present the results from follow-up interviews in 2001 of scientists first studied in 1989 who had commercialized their inventions. Eleven of the original participating ventures had survived while six had failed outright. An effective combination of management team processes and access to capital was observed among the successful ventures. Additionally, personal motives expressed by scientists in 1989, especially the single-minded focus on financial outcomes, appear correlated with ultimate success. Those who failed experienced a more intense conflict between business and science values. Most of the latter did not repeat the experience whereas many of their commercially successful peers pursued further ventures.