On Friday, Dr Stephen Fonash spoke to a group of entrepreneurs and faculty in Harrisburg about the challenges of taking an idea from the lab to market. This is an area where he has significant experience as co-founder of two companies, NanoHorizons and Solarity, and as a key player for Penn State’s nanotechnology and materials research in “Happy Valley.”

As anyone who’s been around the start-up process knows, there are many issues. It can be even more tricky when you’re an active faculty member. The three charactor traits Fonash emphasized for survival were being tenacious, realistic, and flexible.  Tenacity gets you through the challenges and being realistic comes in handy when negotiating with investors on a company’s valuation. Flexibility enters the picture when a mangement team is hired around you, as the company grows and a founder’s percentage of ownership decreases with outside capital investment. The handling of intellectual property (IP) was another hot topic, and getting a good lawyer was a point he made more than once.

When asked about his tenure and direct involvement in NanoHorizons, Fonash shared that the level of his day-to-day involvement decreased as it became more of a product-focused company and less of an early stage, idea-generation company. For him, this equated to approximately fours years of intense engagement.

Safe to say there was a lot more to his experience than time would allow.  His battle scars are evident. Both faculty and those eyeing business ownership have much to learn from Dr Fonash. No grass grows under his feet as he continues his involvement with education, writing books, and starting other companies. As for NanoHorizons, he told us at lunch, ”Now I’m just watching my stock.”