{"id":8508,"date":"2023-08-31T09:14:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T07:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/preprod.tkminnovation.io\/starting-a-start-up-as-a-researcher-finding-your-target-market\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T15:19:51","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T14:19:51","slug":"startup-target-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tkminnovation.io\/en\/startup-target-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting a start-up as a researcher: finding your target market"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

CONTENTS<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Starting a start-up as a researcher: a demanding but exciting journey<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Researcher turned entrepreneur: how do you identify the right market?<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. TKM: Reduce your time-to-market by targeting the right markets from the start<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n

    But between discoveries arising from research and the uses that might eventually follow from them, the path can be long, winding and complex. If you are considering putting them to use (a start-up, launching a new product, \u2026) you will need to very quickly identify the need genuinely met by the innovation, the associated market, the competition (most often several forms of \u201ccompetition\u201d) and your first customers.<\/p>\n

    Discover how to bring your innovations to the right market while limiting your risks.<\/p>\n

    STARTING A START-UP AS A RESEARCHER: A DEMANDING BUT EXCITING JOURNEY<\/h2>\n

    What problem does your innovation solve? What will it allow people to do that other technologies don\u2019t? What does it do better than other approaches?<\/p>\n

    Will it bring a cost advantage, a feasibility advantage, a new service?<\/p>\n

    Who will your first customers be? Is it a promising market? What business model will be best suited for them and for you?<\/p>\n

    How will you manage to convince investors of your project\u2019s potential?
    Do you have serious barriers to entry against future competitors, such as a solid patent portfolio with demonstrated value, for example?<\/p>\n

    \n

    For a researcher, launching a start-up is both an exciting adventure and one that will involve a lot of soul-searching. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    What could be more satisfying than looking back, after a few years, at the positive impact on society of long, uncertain research work? But how do you also learn to spot poorly met needs in the market, pivot, change target, or even give up when the market isn\u2019t ready, or when the drawbacks introduced by your technology turn out to be bigger than first imagined?<\/p>\n

    \n

    So many questions, dilemmas and uncertainties you will be confronted with.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    And yet, it\u2019s not enough to show up with a revolutionary innovation to be welcomed with open arms by the market<\/strong>. Even the best science in the world, if it doesn\u2019t meet any critical need or doesn\u2019t bring a noticeable improvement over existing processes and technologies, will fail to break through the innovation wall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

    \n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t
    <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
    <\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\tWould you like to be notified of our new articles?\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for our newsletter\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n

    RESEARCHER TURNED ENTREPRENEUR: HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY THE RIGHT MARKET?<\/h2>\n

    The first question you need to answer is: \u201cWhat problem will you actually be solving for your future customers?\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Answering this question will let you define your value proposition, clearly list every form of competition (and your competitors), and get a clear view of the market segments to address as a priority. Indeed, there\u2019s a good chance your innovation addresses several problems, for very different markets. There\u2019s also a very good chance you\u2019ll only have very limited visibility into this at the start.<\/p>\n

    Coming from the academic world, you obviously already have a clear view of a few very specific fields of application; they are often linked to your collaborations with industrial partners, which is very valuable. But it may well be that other markets, other segments that are much less obvious or even completely unknown to you, turn out in the end to be far more relevant to your start-up\u2019s success. Pivots are costly\u2026 sometimes essential but costly\u2026and sometimes triggered too late as well.<\/p>\n

    The importance of stepping back when conducting market research and broadening your field of investigation.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    To have a good chance of not getting the market wrong to investigate, you need to carry out a 360\u00b0 analysis as the first step of your market research. In practice, people often do exactly the opposite\u2026 they dive into two or three market segments\u2026 and if that fails, they step back. This exercise is intellectually very costly and hard to carry out, especially when the clock is ticking\u2026 and for a start-up or an SME, that clock is called cash flow!<\/p>\n

    \n
    \n

    \n Let\u2019s take the example of a researcher who developed an ultrasound generator capable of characterizing liquid solutions in real time<\/strong>. Having done his thesis in the hospital world, the first obvious field of application for starting his company was to develop a medical device meant to monitor the patient\u2019s condition during open-heart surgery.<\/em>\n <\/p>\n\n

    \n Niche market, very long time-to-market.<\/em>\n <\/p>\n\n

    \n The need being met was clearly critical, and the proposed solution was interesting. But it was also clear that setting up the start-up by addressing this first market right away was going to prove complex (regulations, fundraising, certifications,..).<\/em>\n <\/p>\n<\/div><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    In other words, it would take years of work and development, and hundreds of millions of euros in investment, before the start-up generated a single euro in revenue<\/strong>. The immediate question for the researcher and the incubator was: is there a more accessible, more promising market? Instinctively, two other markets were mentioned: chemistry and food processing. Without further delay, market research was launched on these markets, but unfortunately with inconclusive results: the technology in question did not solve any critical problem, or any problem identified as such by the industry players interviewed.
    Back to square one!<\/p>\n

    It was only after carrying out a quick 360\u00b0 analysis based on the technical and scientific literature that new and very surprising features and fields of application were identified<\/strong>. This then made it possible to investigate markedly different markets, such as the construction and public-works sector, and to very quickly identify market segments with very fast access and major potential.<\/p>\n

    \n

    This example illustrates how important it is for researchers to have a 360\u00b0 overview of every market that might be interested in their technology<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    It is also very real: the start-up in question used TKM\u2019s services, and after analyzing the entire world scientific literature, TKM advised it to develop its business in the construction industry around one very specific, critical application (meaning one with associated economic stakes estimated in the millions of euros\u2026).
    Since then, this start-up has worked exclusively with cement makers and builders, offering them on-site monitoring solutions for the hardening of concrete structures.<\/p>\n

    Without TKM\u2019s involvement, it would have taken months and a string of lucky coincidences for this researcher to even think of approaching a cement maker. With TKM, it only took 5 days of research to put on his radar a market \u2013 and therefore customers! \u2013 that he would never have considered<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

    \n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t
    <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
    <\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\tFor more information, feel free to contact us!\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tContact us\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    <\/div>\n
    \n

    TKM: REDUCE YOUR TIME-TO-MARKET BY TARGETING THE RIGHT MARKETS FROM THE START<\/h2>\n

    A specialist in states of the art, scientific intelligence monitoring, technology intelligence monitoring and intellectual property strategies, TKM has developed a software platform.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    By using TKM, you can also access a much more detailed view of your competition, without limiting yourself to your direct competitors. Because the same problem can be addressed with many different technologies\u2026 And you cannot afford to overlook an indirect competitor.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Discover TKM Platform<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

    \n\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t