Blog

Read the latest blogs from the IGL network.

Three lessons about tech transfer - insights from IGL2018

By Laurie Smith on Wednesday, 29 August 2018.

Technology transfer offices have come a long way since their inception in the USA in the 1970s and 1980s. Now they form part of a much broader and more structured system of knowledge and people exchange between universities and the wider world of which immediate financial return and intellectual property are only two components.

Team members at laptops

Choosing team members versus ideas

By Linus Dahlander, Viktoria Boss, Christoph Ihl and Rajshri Jayaraman on Friday, 20 July 2018.

There are two necessary ingredients for any entrepreneurial endeavour: good people and good ideas. The two may be complementary in that good people are more likely to generate good ideas. But the best of ideas may not translate into a successful business if they lie in the hands of the wrong team.

Reflection from IGL2018: We can’t wait 118 years

By Chantale Tippett on Tuesday, 10 July 2018.

It was a privilege to attend the 2018 Innovation Growth Lab Conference (IGL2018) that took place at the Harvard Business School and MIT campuses from the 12-14 of June. The experience was — in a word — inspiring. The calibre of people and organisations in attendance as well as the quality of the work presented made it difficult to focus on one aspect to write about.

Furniture makers

Are you ready for an RCT?: Practical lessons for running randomised controlled trials in small businesses

By Jeremy Shapiro, Chaning Jang on Thursday, 28 June 2018.

We thought we had a great idea to spur innovation and growth in the informal furniture sector in Kenya: we opened and operated a tool library in the informal furniture district in Nairobi, Kenya. The tool library, aptly named “WorkShop”, offers capital in the form of access to quality, industrial grade tools, as well as skills in the form of training classes from a five-week curriculum on business practices, technical skills and customer management.

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