Fair warning: I’m going to use this BLOPIG post to promote the YES competition and talk about how semi-amazingly we did at it!

For those who don’t know, the YES competition runs yearly and is designed to develop the entrepreneurial spirit amongst graduates and post-graduates. The YES workshops come in two parts, the first being an intensive crash course in small business start-ups. These are delivered by financial experts, successful start-ups, and intellectual property teams. Carefully mixing theory with useful anecdotes, these talks were hugely insightful and all entusiastically  given by people passionate about science start-ups. We were lucky to have many of these speakers mentoring for the second part: the development of our own business plan.

Our team, the fantastically named Team SolOx, developed a licence-selling business for a theoretical catalyst, which mimicked photosynthesis. Our product produced lightweight hydrocarbons from atmospheric gases quickly and efficiently. The comic value of our idea aside, we designed a 10 year business plan that saw SolOx develop and licence our catalyst. This process was eye-opening, with the mentors highlighting the hurdles we would face and taught us how to overcome them. Our pitch landed us a place in the final at the Royal Society in London, as one of the winners of the YES Industrial Challenges workshop 2017. Although the final judging panel didn’t find our plan as financially sound as others, we had a fantastic experience and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in business start-ups.

Team SolOx: Winners of the YES Industrial Challenges 2017 Workshop. Left to right: Natasha Rhys, Tom Dixon, Joe Bluck, Sarah-Beth Amos and Alex Skates.

Finally, I would like to thank the Systems Approaches to Medical Science Centre for Doctoral Training for their financial support and their focus on promoting entrepreneurial skills.