2. What is INRIA Transfert BarCamp?
3-days residential interactive seminar about company creation
role-playing (participants develop and present their project)
coaching
teaching (INRIA Transfert staff & invited experts)
A starter for researchers - entrepreneurs
a realistic exercise of management of company creation & growth
an opportunity to express one’s ideas and to receive feedback
essential information, tools and contacts provided
Goal: convince the “would – be” entrepreneurs
changing mindsets
Source: Microsoft Office Images Clipart
encouraging to enter the business environment
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3. BarCamp in Practice
Internal event organised 3 - 4 times a year for INRIA staff
To built awareness of all aspects of company creation: development of the project, team construction,
administrative steps, financial matters, challenges and possible obstacles
The “role-playing” concept
Focused more on “learning by experiencing” than on technical issues
The “camp” concept
Three days in residence, full-time interaction between participants, coachers and experts
The program is evolving within a fixed framework
The lectures and case studies are followed by working sessions with coachers and group work inside of
the teams; two assessment sessions during the event.
INRIA Transfert provides the right people
INRIA’s subsidiary, charged with supporting start-up projects, provides experienced coachers and
experts from its staff and numerous contacts among business people, consultants and investors
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4. Program scheme
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5. The rules of the game
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6. When?
Timing
First BarCamp organised in January 2008
The concept has been tested during 2008: 4 “regular” BarCamps and 2
“light” versions for students
The frequency is 3 - 4 times per year; it will increase after opening
BarCamp to participants from other organisations
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7. Who?
Stakeholders
BarCamp event: 16 trainees, 3 full-time trainers and 8 experts for projects
assessment (jury) and coaching
To launch a BarCamp event: one person is enough, as the scheme is well
described
To carry out the event: minimum 2 persons, 3 persons is optimal to better manage
the time dedicated to coaching
Participants
Profile: open, curious, motivated to gain new experience, with research background,
concerned and close to start-up projects, ready to work intensively during 3 days;
age and experience do not play a role
Selection: INRIA members, priority to those who already have a start-up project at
short or medium term; those who want to discover are welcomed if places are
available; their participation boosts the group dynamics
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8. Where?
Location
Near Paris, Vallée de Chevreuse
Organised at the national level, involving INRIA’s headquarters (Transfer
and Innovation Department, general management) and INRIA Transfert,
as well as regional TT officers
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9. Pros & Cons
PROs CONs
Role playing and case solving with Some elements are necessary to succeed:
presence of high level experts renowned in strong and experienced organisation team,
Paris region; exchange between various
actors is easy homogeneity of culture, quality of experts,
construction of trainees group; if one or more
Learning by experience during BarCamp of them are weak points, the risk of failure is
work, even if the problems to solve are high
fictive
It is difficult to try similar approach without the
No ‘theoretical’ lectures, but overview of specific know-how (the best is to contact
main concepts and lessons learned INRIA Transfert which can share it)
Visible impact on motivation of participants
with “entrepreneurship spirit”, which get
stimulated by role-playing experience
Innovative concept; residential seminar
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10. Why ? (1/2)
Source: Microsoft Office Images Clipart
Source: Microsoft Office Images Clipart
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11. Why ? (2/2)
Impact:
Participants express higher motivation to go into start-up
The future entrepreneur can realise the challenges he will have to face; this
will help him to anticipate the problems and to take decisions
Examples of participants feedback:
“Yesterday I believed that technology was doing all by itself; I started to create a
company and now I change the way I used to think about its development.”
“I understood that if I wouldn’t go into the start-up, being the technology creator,
the company had no chances to succeed.”
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12. Outcome
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13. Lessons Learned
The main part of success comes from unique competencies and know-how:
training mode, relations with trainees, expert’s quality are determinant
The scheme of BarCamp is well funded, but still evolving, taking into
account new ideas and improvements
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14. Suggested Readings
Link to bibliography:
Boosting the knowledge valorisation process: putting plans into action. - Direct your
university towards entrepreneurship, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Technopartner 2006
Creating University Spin-Offs : A Science-Based Design Perspective; Elco Van Burg, Georges
L. Romme, Victor A. Gilsing, Isabelle M.M. J. Reymen, Product Development & Management
Association 2008
Link to code book:
Creativity, Start-up, University Spinoffs, Coaching, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship
Link to related websites:
www.inria-transfert.fr
www.inria.fr/valorisation/index.fr
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