Finding Problems for your Solution 

 Wednesday,  April 9, 2008

5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Rivers Club, One Oxford Centre-4th floor

301 Grant St., Pittsburgh PA 15219 

This seems backwards, but there are several situations where this could be the hand you are dealt. You might have a horizontal technology that works well for one application in one market segment, and you're asked to find growth with new applications of it in other markets. Or, you might have a cool technology and it's believed it could be doing a lot better but the killer application hasn't been found yet. Or, your company's founder is a brilliant scientist who cooked it up in the lab and...

Make no mistake, this is difficult. It's against our very problem-solving nature of starting with a problem then looking for a solution. The odds are against success. But, you can be optimistic as other technologies like the laser, photocopying and polycarbonates took multiple tries before their killer application was found. Besides, it's seems logical to try to leverage the investment that has already been made. So, how do you increase your odds of success?

In this Members-only Roundtable meeting, we've invited two practitioners and PSN Members who have dealt with this challenge many times before. Arun Ranchod, Business Development Manager with Medrad, and Jim Thompson-Colön, Head of Future Business at Bayer MaterialScience will share their techniques, experiences and lessons learned in this moderated Q&A discussion.

We'll begin the discussion by asking our guests the following questions:

• When should you even contemplate this approach of starting with a solution? Is it worth doing at all?
• How do you go about finding a problem to solve? Is there a checklist of things that you should do? Where should you look?
• What factors contribute to success with this approach? to failure?
• What tools and techniques do you find to be effective? Which ones did you try that are ineffective?
• How do you recognize a good choice? And when do you give up working on what previously looked like a good choice?

You will have ample opportunity to ask the practice masters your specific questions throughout the roundtable meeting.

ABOUT THE PRACTICE MASTERS

James Thompson-Colön, Ph. D. is the Head of Future Business-Latin America with Bayer MaterialScience where he has worked for 21 years. He has developed products, managed laboratories and ran businesses for the Polyurethanes division for Bayer in Germany, Mexico and Pittsburgh. Since 2003, he has been a member of the Future Business Group where besides heading the Latin American Office, developing and marketing new-to-the-world water-swellable sealants and grouts, he has been searching for a customer for Bayer's low surface-energy technology.

Mr. Thompson-Colön has a B.Sc. in Chemistry and Mathematics from the University of Puerto Rico and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Arun Ranchod is the Business Development Manager with Medrad's Product Innovation and Advanced Development division. Previously, he served as a Product Planning Manager for Resonance vascular injectors at Medrad. Prior to Medrad, Mr. Ranchod spent over ten years in product management for healthcare technology products and new venture development with Diebold's MedSelect division, McKesson Automation, Yak-View, Internet Venture Works, and PantherLabWorks at the University of Pittsburgh. 

He is a certified Knowledge Engineer (artificial intelligence), and has a B.A. Mathematics, College of Wooster; M.S. Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia; and an M.B.A., Innovation Management, Syracuse University.

AGENDA

5:30 to 6:00 pm Networking over food/beverages

6:00 to 6:15 Opening remarks and introductions

6:15 to 7:45 Moderated and open Q&A

7:45 to 8:00 Recap

8:00 to 8:30 Additional networking

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This roundtable is limited to 20 PSN Members.

It is ideal for anyone who is responsible or contributing to the identification, evaluation and selection of market opportunities for a technology or core capability. This includes: managers, directors and executives of innovation, technology, new business ventures, product planning, and similar positions.

FEES AND REGISTRATION

PSN Members can attend at no charge. (See PSN Membership to join.) Only PSN Members can attend PSN Member Roundtables.

Pre-registration is required.  PSN Members can register online or by sending an e-mail to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it.

After you register, you will receive further details for participating in this Roundtable event about one week prior to the program.

Seating is limited to 20 attendees to allow for an interactive discussion and opportunity to ask questions.

CANCELLATIONS

Please let us know in advance if you need to cancel so we can open your seat for another member. Write to us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

QUESTIONS:

Contact the PSN by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or by phone: 1-888-580-3329, ext. 2.