We are entrepreneurs ourselves and we know what it's like.
We founded HWG after becoming frustrated with what was available to us during the commercialization of one of our first entrepreneurial ventures. We were approached by TEC Edmonton, and quickly learned that they were trying to sell us what we didn't need.
They tried to sell business plan seminars to an experienced business professional with two business degrees. They tried to explain university IP policy to the person who sat on the committee that considered and passed that very policy. They didn't listen to what we wanted or needed, and they didn't ask important questions.
We tried other firms, and while they were better, we found that if you wanted something more than the cookie-cutter, fill-in-the-blank business help that "incubators" like TEC Edmonton offer, it was going to be unreasonably expensive. After our first 3 meetings with consultants, no one understood the idea, no one could explain the regulatory approval process (they tried and were wrong), and we were sold generic services that just so happened to cost exactly as much as common government grants would pay. It seemed the whole industry existed to draw grant funding and use it quickly with no regard for developing the actual business.
When reaching out again for help with regulatory approval, our founders were quoted $60,000 from a local consulting firm to fill out a 10-page application and write a cover letter (this specifically excluded all research). It was outrageous. We knew we could do better. Here is what an innovator with a potentially great idea in Alberta wants to know:
1) What should my intellectual property plan be? Should I patent? How do I begin, how much will it cost, and how long will it take? Are there alternatives?
2) How do I know how much money there is to be made in my market? How can I prove it? What do banks, investors, and grant agencies need to see?
3) What are the government regulations relevant to my idea, and how do I overcome them?
4) How much will it cost to become market-ready, and how long will it take?
5) How do I get financial support from grants and/or investors? How much can I get, how long does it take, and how do I do it?
6) What kind of corporate structure do I need to facilitate everything, protect myself from liability, and position myself for investments and grant funding?
7) How do I attract a licensing deal or an acquisition from a large company?
These preliminary questions can be largely answered in one good, well researched one-hour meeting. Moving forward, actually executing the plan you create is something you should have done by people who have done it before, and can do it efficiently. This is what we do at HWG.
Your primary contact at HWG will know everything there is to know about your potential market and your technology. They will answer questions quickly, provide accurate cost estimates, competent referrals, and useful documents. We can do everything from a one hour sit-down pointing you in the right direction to structuring and negotiating a deal or partnership on your behalf. We are flexible based on your needs, our fees are transparent from day one, and we only take on projects we believe in. See Our Philosophy for more details.
STEM Commercialization in Alberta
