MARROCCO COMMERCIALISATION SCHOOL Technology Commercialisation: From Invention to Impact Open self-study course; no accredited award. MODULE 1: Opportunity and customer discovery Turn a technical idea into a testable problem hypothesis and learn what people actually do. Estimated study: 6 hours Objectives: - Distinguish an invention from a customer problem - Map users, buyers and other stakeholders - Conduct neutral discovery and maintain an evidence log Classes: 1. From invention to a useful problem (60 minutes) Activity: Write three problem hypotheses for SignalBox or your own idea. For each, name the stakeholder, current workaround and an observation that would contradict it. Deliverable: A one-page problem and stakeholder map with three explicit uncertainties. 2. Discovery interviews that reduce uncertainty (60 minutes) Activity: Draft a six-question interview guide. Rehearse it with someone acting as an uninterested buyer, then remove leading questions and record what changed. Deliverable: A neutral interview guide and a sample evidence-log entry clearly labelled as a rehearsal. 3. Evidence strength and the first decision gate (60 minutes) Activity: Review five fictional or real evidence items. Rank their usefulness for the next decision and write a proceed, change or stop recommendation. Deliverable: An evidence register and a decision memo with a specific next experiment. Assignment: Produce a discovery pack containing a problem hypothesis, stakeholder map, interview guide and evidence register. Use interviews only with permission; if none are available, clearly label simulated notes and propose a real recruitment plan. Practice: 4 questions. MODULE 2: Markets, segments and competition Choose a focused entry market and build an opportunity estimate that can be challenged. Estimated study: 6 hours Objectives: - Define an actionable customer segment - Compare direct, indirect and non-purchase alternatives - Build a bottom-up market estimate with explicit assumptions Classes: 1. Choose a beachhead segment (60 minutes) Activity: Compare three candidate segments using evidence, access and adoption effort. Explain which uncertainty could reverse your preference. Deliverable: A beachhead segment profile and a reasoned comparison table. 2. Competition includes doing nothing (60 minutes) Activity: Build an alternatives matrix for one customer situation, including the current workaround and doing nothing. Propose a test of one claimed advantage. Deliverable: An evidence-labelled competition map and differentiation test. 3. Size an opportunity from the ground up (60 minutes) Activity: Create a bottom-up market spreadsheet with three scenarios and a sales-capacity cross-check. Mark every input as sourced, observed or assumed. Deliverable: A transparent market model and a paragraph explaining its most sensitive assumption. Assignment: Recommend one entry segment using a customer profile, alternatives matrix and bottom-up market model. Include at least one reason your preferred segment could be wrong. Practice: 4 questions. MODULE 3: Intellectual property, ownership and commercial routes Understand what needs protecting, who may control it and how rights affect the route to market. Estimated study: 6 hours Objectives: - Create an IP and third-party rights inventory - Distinguish protection, ownership and freedom-to-operate questions - Compare licensing, partnership and venture routes Classes: 1. Map the assets and their owners (60 minutes) Activity: Create an asset register for the running case. Flag uncertain ownership and draft a non-confidential description suitable for an initial discovery conversation. Deliverable: An IP and disclosure register with named review actions. 2. Protection is not permission to operate (60 minutes) Activity: Identify five third-party dependencies and write the specific permission or review question for each. Distinguish ownership, licence scope and freedom-to-operate concerns. Deliverable: A dependency register and a prioritised professional-review brief. 3. License, partner or build a venture (60 minutes) Activity: Compare a direct venture and a licensing or partner route for SignalBox. Identify missing capabilities, unresolved rights and the next negotiation evidence needed. Deliverable: A commercial-route memo with a decision table and review conditions. Assignment: Prepare an IP and route-to-market briefing with an asset register, dependency map, disclosure plan and comparison of two commercial routes. Flag all conclusions requiring legal or institutional review. Practice: 4 questions. MODULE 4: Product evidence, readiness and pilots Turn an idea into a controlled experiment and a useful, supportable first offer. Estimated study: 6 hours Objectives: - Distinguish technical, commercial and operational readiness - Design a minimum evidence-generating prototype - Write a pilot with acceptance criteria and stop rules Classes: 1. Readiness is more than a working demonstration (60 minutes) Activity: Write a bounded product claim and a readiness map for the first version. Identify one technical, one commercial and one operational uncertainty. Deliverable: A product claim, readiness register and safety boundary. 2. Prototype to answer the expensive question (60 minutes) Activity: Design a low-cost prototype experiment with a baseline, success criterion, failure cases and a version record. Use synthetic data where real data is unavailable. Deliverable: A repeatable experiment protocol and a decision template. 3. Run a pilot that can lead to a decision (60 minutes) Activity: Write a four-week illustrative pilot plan, including acceptance, incident handling, withdrawal and a commercial review. All timing is a teaching assumption. Deliverable: A pilot charter and acceptance checklist. Assignment: Prepare a minimum-evidence product plan with a readiness map, prototype protocol and pilot charter. Explain how the experiment could disprove the commercial proposition. Practice: 4 questions. MODULE 5: Business models, pricing and unit economics Translate customer value into an offer whose delivery and economics can be explained. Estimated study: 6 hours Objectives: - Compare business models and charging units - Calculate contribution using explicit assumptions - Connect pricing, service scope and customer value Classes: 1. Design the offer and charging unit (60 minutes) Activity: Describe three possible offers and charging units for SignalBox. Identify the service obligations and customer concerns associated with each. Deliverable: A one-page offer specification and business-model comparison. 2. Calculate contribution without hiding costs (60 minutes) Activity: Build a unit model for one offer using invented but labelled assumptions. Show a central and high-support case and identify omitted costs. Deliverable: A contribution worksheet with definitions and sensitivity. 3. Test price and value responsibly (60 minutes) Activity: Draft a price-research script and a customer value worksheet. Include one scenario in which the product is not worth buying. Deliverable: A pricing test plan and a balanced value case. Assignment: Specify an offer, select a provisional charging unit and build a contribution model with central and downside cases. Propose an ethical test of price and purchase behaviour. Practice: 4 questions. MODULE 6: Finance, funding and investment readiness Connect resources to evidence milestones and distinguish business performance from cash timing. Estimated study: 6 hours Objectives: - Build a simple cash and runway model - Compare grants, equity, debt and customer-funded development - Prepare an honest funding narrative and diligence pack Classes: 1. Cash timing and runway (60 minutes) Activity: Build a six-month illustrative cash model with delayed customer payment and one major upfront cost. Explain the difference between contribution and cash need. Deliverable: A cash timeline, runway estimate and trigger for corrective action. 2. Match funding to the uncertainty (60 minutes) Activity: Compare three funding routes against one evidence milestone. Use official sources for any real programme and label hypothetical terms. Deliverable: A funding-fit matrix and a milestone budget. 3. Build a diligence-ready narrative (60 minutes) Activity: Draft a five-slide evidence-led pitch outline, then write the three strongest objections and the evidence needed to answer them. Deliverable: A pitch outline, diligence index and challenge log. Assignment: Produce a milestone funding plan with a six-month cash model, comparison of funding routes, use-of-funds table and evidence-led pitch outline. No real investment recommendation is required. Practice: 4 questions. MODULE 7: Market entry, partnerships and sales Create a repeatable route from a defined customer need to a deliverable agreement. Estimated study: 6 hours Objectives: - Map the buying process and procurement evidence - Evaluate direct and partner channels - Design a bounded first sales and onboarding process Classes: 1. Understand how a purchase happens (60 minutes) Activity: Map a fictional purchase journey and list the evidence required by each role. Identify one condition that would disqualify the opportunity. Deliverable: A buying-process map and qualification checklist. 2. Choose and govern a partner channel (60 minutes) Activity: Design a partner scorecard and a limited channel pilot. Assign sales, installation, support and customer-data responsibilities. Deliverable: A channel decision and partner operating map. 3. Connect the promise to onboarding and renewal (60 minutes) Activity: Write a proposal outline and onboarding checklist, then choose three adoption signals and a renewal-review question. Deliverable: A first-customer playbook covering promise, handover, acceptance and review. Assignment: Build a market-entry playbook for one segment. Include its buying process, a direct-versus-partner decision, evidence pack and onboarding responsibilities. Practice: 4 questions. MODULE 8: Scale, governance and responsible AI Build operating discipline and responsible technology into the commercialisation plan. Estimated study: 6 hours Objectives: - Distinguish repeatable growth from unsupported expansion - Assign operating, data and incident responsibilities - Evaluate AI-specific risks and prepare an evidence-led capstone Classes: 1. Scale what works, not what looks busy (60 minutes) Activity: Create a repeatability scorecard and a capacity map for ten fictional deployments. Do not assume that a successful pilot automatically scales. Deliverable: A growth gate with operational measures and named dependencies. 2. Responsible AI and data in the product (60 minutes) Activity: Write an intended-use statement, five failure tests and a human-escalation rule for an optional AI explanation feature. Include a non-AI fallback. Deliverable: A responsible-AI and data-risk register with testable controls. 3. Make the final commercialisation decision (60 minutes) Activity: Review the capstone checklist. Write a one-page decision memo and ask a peer to challenge its weakest assumption before revising it. Deliverable: A final decision memo, evidence index and next-gate plan. Assignment: Prepare an operating and responsible-technology plan, then audit the entire course portfolio for contradictions before beginning the capstone. Practice: 4 questions. CAPSTONE (12 additional study hours): The evidence-led commercialisation decision Prepare a decision pack for your own technology or the fictional SignalBox case. Recommend proceed, change direction, license, partner, defer or stop. A justified decision to stop is as valuable as an unsupported recommendation to launch. Clearly separate observed evidence, illustrative assumptions and unresolved questions. Do not disclose confidential research or customer information. - A two-page executive decision memo stating the target customer, problem, chosen route and conditions for proceeding - An evidence log containing discovery notes or clearly labelled desk-research assumptions, dates, source links and limitations - A segment and competitor map including the current workaround and the option of doing nothing - An IP and rights register with ownership questions, third-party dependencies and matters requiring professional review - A prototype or pilot protocol with acceptance criteria, failure cases, permissions and an explicit stop rule - A spreadsheet showing price, contribution, cash timing, runway and downside sensitivity using labelled assumptions - A funding and market-entry plan linking requested resources to specific evidence milestones - An operating and responsible-technology plan covering access, data, oversight, incidents and withdrawal - A five-minute pitch outline and a challenge log documenting the strongest objections Full lessons: https://marrocco.me.uk/course.html Created and powered by Promptus.ai. 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