Spinning-out a company from a university is rarely a straightforward process. Researchers, tech transfer offices (TTOs) and investors all have different drivers, which can make negotiations complex. When we built the Spin-out Simulation, our goal was to help stakeholders better understand the challenges and competing interests in spinning-out a company from a university while fostering empathy among stakeholders.

What we didn’t anticipate was the overwhelming demand to run the Spin-out Simulation. It’s a hands-on, immersive exercise, and while we love facilitating it, we simply can’t be everywhere at once. So rather than keeping it in-house, we’re opening it up—providing the instructions and materials  so that anyone can run it—especially accelerators, universities and investors supporting research founders.

We hope this helps more teams have productive conversations about spinning-out. If you’re keen to run a session, the guide is out there—go for it. And if you get stuck, feel free to schedule a call with us to talk through how to run the game.