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The goal of commercialization is to implement the key elements necessary to transform good technology into meaningful products that can fulfill customer needs while remaining cost effective. Specifically, can the technology be the basis for meeting a defined customer need? Can it be reproduced consistently, and can it be manufactured cost effectively?
Innovative technology and funding are key drivers for commercialization, but marketing and manufacturing need to be implemented early to facilitate commercial success. The three basic questions that must be answered are:
Evolutionary and revolutionary or disruptive technologies are the basis for product differentiation. While disruptive technologies can create new markets, their time horizon is longer, which favors small, revolutionary changes in the risk-averse atmospheres of most large companies. This is the primary reason that products generated from disruptive technologies are created in start-ups at a disproportionate rate compared to large companies. To maintain the flow of revolutionary technology as companies grow, the concept of open innovation is used, in which outside and inside technology resources work in collaboration.
Technical marketing trends are needed to generate market-segment-specific opportunity forecasts. Top-down and bottom-up approaches must be reconciled so that the addressable market can be identified along with specific needs, barriers to entry, and the competitive environment. Overestimating the market potential will lead to faulty and costly business decisions.
The sales strategy encompasses many elements. The strategy must define the targeted market segment or segments. It must also define the initial target customers and define which products will be offered. With those elements in place, the selling organization can be structured to maximize its ability to adequately address market opportunities.
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