NSW Health
Commercialisation
Training Program

Customer Discovery

About the Course

During 7 weekly workshops, you will build your knowledge and skills in science communication, pitching, market opportunity assessment, customer segmentation, building a commercial strategy, and how to attract investors, staff, and strategic partners.

By working directly with expert mentors, speakers, and facilitators during the course, you’ll get personalised and actionable feedback as well as the opportunity to network with a carefully selected cohort of peers who are also going through the commercialisation process and the group of mentors and speakers who are engaged with the early-stage venture world and are keen to help.

Applications for the Customer Discovery 2023 cohort are now closed. Express your interest in attending the next round.

Express your interest

Who is it for?

Any NSW-based Researchers, innovators, clinicians, scientists, commercialisation personnel, startup team members, founders and founding team members, first time startup board members and advisors, are welcome to apply.

To be eligible to attend, you must have an idea or innovation you are looking to progress and are looking for getting started.

This intensive course covers:

Communication & Stakeholder Management:

  1. Science communication through storytelling.

  2. How to construct and deliver an elevator pitch and a pitch deck for different needs and audiences.

  3. How to engage with your personal presentation style for pitching ease, success, and impact. 

  4. How to pitch for fundraising (dilutive and non-dilutive). 

  5. How to find, attract, and engage investors, mentors, partners & staff.

  6. Stakeholder management & negotiation techniques.

Market Validation:

  1. Finding, defining, and segmenting your customers,  payers, and decision makers.

  2. How to find and analyse your market opportunity, and how to define your primary and secondary market opportunities.

  3. How to validate your idea with the market -  step by step.

  4. Interviewing 101 incl etiquette, techniques, ethics, effective question writing and data production. 

  5. Stakeholder and user journey mapping and personas, and how to use them to iterate your pitch and your product. 

Commercial strategy and commercialisation options:

  1. Different commercialisation pathways and exit options, and finding what pathway is right for you and the innovation. 

  2. Value chains - from mapping them, to defining your value proposition along the chain, to activating the stakeholders.

  3. Understanding, defining, and choosing different revenue streams

  4. How to refine your business model to meet business and market needs. 

  5. How to conduct competitive analysis incl filling out a competitor matrix

  6. Getting to your early adopters: Team, skills, funding, resources.

"I've now completed most of the (medtech commercialisation) courses, all of which were excellent, but I have to say that this one focused on Customer Discovery was the most powerful in terms of insight into the practicalities of bringing a concept to maturity and the market."


FAQ

How much does it cost?

It’s free - This course is fully funded by NSW Health, through the NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program.

What is the application process?

You express your interest in applying, and will receive the application form. Once you’ve applied, the review team will look at your application and make a determination. We will then let you know of the application outcome, usually within 10 working days of submission. 

Do I have to attend all 7 days?

To get the most out of the course and provide the best experience possible, we require that participants commit to attending every session. 

If you have any questions about how the attendance requirements are implemented or how they might affect your application,  please get in touch with the team at medtech@cicadainnovations.com to discuss further. 

Do I have to attend in person?

No - All NSW Health Commercialisation Program modules are also available online. While attending in person is strongly encouraged, we understand that doesn’t work for everyone and we do livestream the seminars and courses for participants who can’t join in person. 

Where does the Program take place?

All seminars and courses are conducted at Cicada Innovations’ seminar room in South Eveleigh. Our address is the National Innovation Centre, 2-4 Cornwallis Street, South Eveleigh. 

Do you take equity or make claims over my Intellectual Property?

No. The NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program is a safe space to learn, fail, and receive expert feedback you would not otherwise have access to. 

However, we also ask participants to treat the Program as a public forum, so we ask that they do not say anything which is, or might be, proprietary, protected, or is potentially protectable in the future, or any information they are not completely comfortable providing in a public forum.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact the Program Manager at medtech@cicadainnovations.com 

About NSW Health

NSW Health is supporting the medical and health sector by investing in their people to build capacity, form stronger networks across the state and nurture innovative medical technologies through the NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program.

The Program aims to fast-track innovative ideas that will revolutionise the healthcare sector, improve patient outcomes, and provide economic opportunities for emerging medtech and biotech businesses in NSW. 

Visit the NSW Health and Medical Research website for information on key programs and initiatives.

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NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program

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