Description of the event

A day of Wonder was the spectacular final of an entire week of celebrating technology. The event gave intellectuals and curious minds a chance to see innovations on the edge, with a mix of technology, music, art and great food. The Health Area was located in the Aula where all projects related to health topics were presented, ranging from end projects of master students, such as the Exoskeleton and the Buddy, to the fall course in which cameras were used to register the exact movement during the process of falling. We had the opportunity to be part of the health area and present our own project to the visitors of the festival. Our aim was to teach the public more about synthetic biology and to make them excited about our project.

Our stand

Since the festival was for everyone interested, ranging from young to old and higher to lower levels of education, we organized our stand in such a way that we could explain the basic concepts of synthetic biology and the iGEM competition. In order to teach, in a visual way, what synthetic biology is, we designed two puzzles, representing two types of bacteria. With these puzzles, we could explain how genes can be transferred from one bacteria to the other. Moreover, we brought some microscopes and lenses (built with Lego) to show the people how to enlarge pictures.

Activities

To have an interactive activity, we gave the public the task to write down their first thought when they hear about bacteria. The replies ranged from ‘dirty’, ‘zombie apocalypse’ to E. coli. In our opinion it was really funny but useful to see what the general knowledge (and opinion) is about bacteria. Our main attraction was the functional 3D printer that we had lent from Frank & Frens. With the printer we were able to show the public how the process of 3D printing works, what we want to do with the bacteria and why 3D printing could lead to more precision and accuracy.

With our project we aim to print a well-defined biofilm in 3 dimensions. Since the biofilm can be created at a certain rate and pattern, it is possible to create a well-defined structure. In order to show the existing problems, we have used pictures of dental plaque and biofilm formation within pipes to show them.

Winner of the contest

How to Write a Business Plan

A business plan is useful for more than just attracting investors. It helps both the project team and the audience gain a business perspective, which complements scientific and social views. We want to help future iGEM teams write a business plan specific to their project, so that the business perspective is more thoroughly addressed in future iGEM projects. Therefore, we propose a few steps to guide business plan writing.

Start with target audience

Before starting to write a business plan, you should identify the target audience of your project. In general, a business plan is a basic document required by any financial investment source. It is an opportunity of an entrepreneur (who wishes to create a new venture) to impress investors and attract funding. (Mason, 2004).

However, in the case of iGEM, the motivation is to communicate the key business elements to a different target audience: the iGEM community and the general public.

Identify and fulfill audience expectations

The business plan should align with, and support the entire project. Readers will be confused if too much new information is added, or if the information is not consistent with other sections of the project. We propose taking in account the following key points:

Integration When researching for the business plan, new knowledge and arguments come into play. To avoid deviating from the subject, new knowledge must relate with the direction and concepts of the project. Focus on only a few concepts that can be strongly tied to the project!

Direction The business plan helps delineate a strategic direction, clarifying project goals and progress to both iGEM team members and audience. On the long run, a strategic direction aids in keeping the project on track and observing if adjustments are needed.

Validity Prove that assumptions and analysis are valid. Validity can be enhanced by supporting assumptions with interviews, questionnaires (or other data collection methods) and literature reviews.

Structure the Business Plan

A classical model of a Business Plan can be found in literature as described in (Abrams, 2010). There are many books and websites with various advice about writing such a document. The structure can be variable, depending on what information you want to give and to whom. Regardless of what the theme of the project is, its business plan should include at least the following core chapters:

Executive Summary. The definitory part of any business plan, the executive summary provides a concise and attractive overview of the entire project. It is meant to both inform and catch the audience’s attention. Keep in mind that it has to be attractive for an audience with various backgrounds - both scientific and nonscientific.

Company / Project overview. High level description of the elements of the business/project and how they integrate with each other. Motivation and core arguments supporting why the project will be a success are included here.

Market / Industry Analysis. The project is enveloped within the context of an industry/market. Market research is done on current and future market trends, competition, complementary products, suppliers, clients, etc. Based on this information, a competitive analysis is made to establish how the project (future company) could succeed in the respective environment (for example, by a SWOT analysis).

Product / Service. Describes the final product / service meant to be sold. Advantages or disadvantages of the product should be compared to existing similar solutions. Included is a description of R&D activities, evolution of product (life cycle), and legal issues or patenting if the case.

Marketing & Sales strategy. What customers can you sell to, how to communicate with them, how to sell the product/service. Moreover, this section must describe a long-term strategy on how to maintain and increase client base, while fending off competition.

Management and Organizational Structure. Essential to any project or company are its people and their interactions. This section should detail what kind of people the company will employ (both personal and professional typologies) and how they will be managed within a chosen organizational structure.

Social / Environmental impact. Although this section is not a must-have for regular business plans, it is highly recommended for iGEM. A core iGEM goal is to make Synthetic Biology known and understandable to the world. Therefore, it is important to predict how the project will be perceived by society, and how society can influence the evolution of business. NOTE: One should be aware not to repeat information that is already treated in Policy and Practice modules. Rather, impacts found in the Policy and Practice section should be analysed here from a business perspective.

(Optional) Investment and Financial forecast. This section is traditionally necessary for a business plan, but an exception can be made in the context of iGEM. As the target audience are not necessary investors, but the iGEM community and public, this section may be skipped. Moreover, financial forecasts and investment plans require considerable effort and expertise in order to be convincing. It is better to skip this part than write an unrealistic plan.

Use business theory and concepts

When writing a business plan, content information needs to be supported by existing business theory. Here are some points to consider:

Critical factors for new businesses. One can start developing a business plan by considering four essential factors that make or break a new business as proposed by (Sahlman, 2008). Here is an example of analysis that focuses on four interrelated factors critical to new businesses:

Enabling or hindering elements of a business. To consider both internal and external factors that can block or help an emerging business, a SWOT (Humphrey, 2005) analysis can be made. A Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threat (SWOT) is only one method of many, to evaluate these factors.

Marketing/Sales Business models. To gain clarity and structure how a product is marketed and sold, sales models can be used. In addition, comparison with sales models of successful companies can be helpful. After deciding on the model, a graphical scheme can be used to illustrate the entire supply chain. This shows where the new business comes into play in the chain.

Industrial trends and market niches. Choosing where to sell is a prerequisite for production, as each industry has different trends and market segments to sell into. Trends can help forecast what to sell, and identifying untapped market niches suggest where to sell.

Science communication. Often there is a communication gap between scientists and managers or public. Science communication involves relaying specialized knowledge to non-specialists and is key to mutual understanding between different background people.

Innovation management. As iGEM promotes creativity and innovation, considering how they can be included in the business plan is essential. Innovation patterns and concepts applied on a project help understand how innovation pushes an idea to a marketable application. For example, Henderson and Clark identify four types of innovation depending on its impact on existing competencies and their linkages - Incremental, Radical, Modular or Architectural Innovation (Henderson & Clark, 1990).

Combine theory and practice within structure

After deciding on what theoretical concepts can explain project aspects, they can be included within a chosen structure. The executive summary should be left for last, as it is an overview of all the essential aspects identified through analysis. A business plan does not have to be rigid. It should be perfected as the iGEM project progresses.

Final thoughts

Finally, we stress the point that a business plan should be useful. It should help guide the project with respect to what is feasible or not from a business perspective. Moreover, it should be interesting to read for your audience, reflecting ideas of how the project could develop into a business.

Biolink Business Plan

Executive Summary

Introduction. For testing biofilm removal products, it is essential to produce an artificial biofilm yielding reliable results. Biolink proposes a revolutionary way of 3D printing biofilms into a desired form, adding control, replicability and automation over classical biofilm formation methods. The many fields of application (biofilm research, industrial and healthcare product testing), growing trends of 3D printing industry and Synthetic Biology, and positive feedback received so far offer promise towards our success.

Biolink was born from TU Delft’s team participating in iGEM 2015. Our aim is to develop a creative, yet simple solution solving a complex problem in the biofilm-related industries. Certain biofilms, forming in or on our body, pose serious threats to our health. Products, such as toothpaste or antibiotics, aim to remove these detrimental biofilms. To measure removal efficiency, products are tested on biofilms formed in laboratories. Because biofilm growth is difficult to control, these artificial biofilms are unlike naturally occurring ones. This translates into unreliable product testing - a disadvantage to both companies and their clients.

Our solution can mitigate the disadvantage. On the one hand, safety and efficiency of biofilm removal products can be increased, if biofilms formed are closer to real conditions. On the other hand, increased automation and control over biofilm formation yields a cost advantage for production processes. Biolink brings together more than just biofilms; it combines the novel fields of synthetic biology and 3D printing into forming a new competency. By partnering with 3D printing manufacturers, we want to offer a highly-customized and specialized 3D biofilm printing service.

To gain a competitive edge, Biolink will form and preserve close relationships with clients, concentrating on high quality and specialization, rather than mass production. Clients targeted are from both healthcare production and industrial manufacturing industries (companies selling biofilm removal products). Co-development of our service with our clients is crucial for achieving an optimal solution, tailored to their needs. We can find clients and 3D printer manufacturers leveraging our professional network gained through iGEM. Discussions already held with various actors from the industrial and academic setting seem encouraging. Moreover, reports of growth in both 3D printing and Synthetic biology industries reflect a favorable business environment.

The future business will build upon the iGEM team structure. The Biolink team structure will be versatile, so that it can easily adapt to special requirements of clients and speculate emerging technology. We are proud of being a strong team, with cohesion compensating for lack of experience. By adding team members that fill our expertise gaps, we will be able to competently run a company providing the service we are proposing.

With Biolink, we want to form an image that encourages creativity and sheds light over synthetic biology. Our current 3D printer is made out of a DIY kit that is easy to build. Moreover, we organized social events with students to see what they think about Synthetic Biology in general and our project in particular.

Company and Project Description

Our mission is to contribute to better and cheaper pharmaceutical and health products. By ambitioning to provide an innovative method of biofilm formation, we want to help increase the efficiency of manufacturing and testing processes. We deliver a partly automated, replicable and efficient solution by 3D printing biofilms. The method will partially replace some manual steps of current biofilm formation processes.

Healthcare systems are developing all over the world, increasing the demand for pharmaceutical and healthcare products yearly. In order to increase supply, while maintaining or even lowering prices, the production process needs to be more efficient. Our vision is to partly automate biofilm processes for producing medicine and health care products, and removing detrimental biofilms that affect industrial equipment.

In realising our mission, we are guided by our core values:

Integrity:

to be self-critical, to respect regulations and never knowingly act in the detriment of any group or individual.

Ingenuity:

to continuously seek for improvements of our project.

Openness:

to provide full access to our project results and methods, openly aiding anyone who requests help and accepting external ideas for improvement.

Harmony:

to synchronize with the needs of industry, the demands of our supporters and the expectations of society.

Collaboration:

to achieve more purposeful results by collaborating with other iGEM teams, researchers and industry.

Growth:

to gain expertise, communication skills and build a professional network, while enjoying the work we do.