Changes made to the Pre-Course I-Corps Survey

Changes made to the Pre-Course I-Corps Survey
SUGGESTIONS
TO: KEEP,
CHANGE, ADD, REMOVE
EXPLANATION OF
SUGGESTION & NOTES

Question
Text

Team Number
Information about you: [Name]

Information about you: [Title]
Information about you: [Department]

[pre-filled from
registration]

KEEP

Registration
data provides this information.
However, we do ask each respondent to
confirm
that the record is correct. 

Information about you: [Institution]
Information about you: [Team Name]
What is your current occupation? [check
all that apply]
KEEP-AMEND

Some
more categories were added to a
previously existing question as per an ACIA
reporting request.

How many MONTHS have you been working
together as a team?

KEEP

Which of the following topical clusters
best describes your
research or
technology?

REMOVE

Which of the following topical clusters
best describes your
research or
technology? [Other]

REMOVE

If you responded "other," please
specify below.

REMOVE

How confident are you in your
categorization above?

REMOVE

Select the sector that best describes
your industry at this
time.
Select the sector that best describes
your industry at this
time. [Other]
If you answered "other," above, please
specify below.

Important
question. (1) But decided to
restrict answer to Pis (grantees) and (2)
Define
team as "all members of the team"
(i.e., most Pis have not worked
that long
with the Mentor, but often have worked a
long time with the EL).

22% of
respondents are only "slightly,"
"somewhat," or "not
at all" confident in
their response to this question before the
course
begins. Recommendation is to only ask
this question post the course.

REMOVE

REMOVE

REMOVE

Similar
to the above, 21%  of respondents
are
only "slightly," "somewhat," or "not at
all"
confident in their response to this
question.

How confident are you of the sector you
selected above?
Which of the following best describes
the current status of your
project in
terms of its commercialization
readiness?

REMOVE

KEEP

A
little historical context:This question
was added in Jan 2013 (Arlington). We
do not
have any data for this question for 2012.

REMOVE

About 2-3% of participants select "none of
the above" - and even fewer take the time to
write an open-ended comment about it. Also,
a lot of the
open-ended comments are not
useful (e.g., "almost ready for
commercialization."). Most of these
responses seem to fit "Our
research is not
yet ready for commercialization" (about 43%
of
participants select this option). 

If you answered "None of the above,"
please describe
the status in your own
words below.

Has a new company been founded to
commercialize this research?
KEEP

About
a quarter of participants report
having formed a company before the course
starts. We then verify whether or not this
company exists or not.

KEEP

The
name of the company helps us to verify
whether the company exists or not.

KEEP

The
date of incorporation helps to verify
whether the company exists or not.

What is the name of the company?

When was the company founded
(mm/dd/yyyy)?
What aspects of your team would you
like to strengthen as a
result of the
I-Corps course?

KEEP-AMEND (TBD)

About
80% of respondents answer this
question. Thus, it seems like it is
something
participants want to discuss.
However, right now, it is open-ended and no
one
is looking at the responses. We suggest
creating a multiple choice question
using
the current answers to this question. 

NEW KEEP

As
NSF is experimenting with different types
of mentor-mentee configurations, a
set of
questions related to this have been added in
order to study the
effects on participants
and program outocmes.

REMOVE

About
43% of respondents answer this
question. No one is seemingly interested in
the answers.

[PI & EL] What are your top 3
expectations of your
mentor?/[M] Name
the top 3 ways you expect to be
supporting your team/s.

What questions or concerns do you have
regarding the I-Corps
course?

Have you participated in any type of ICorps program before?
Please select the role(s) you have had
in your previous I-Corps
experiences:
[Entrepreneurial Lead / C-Level
Corporate Officer]
Please select the role(s) you have had
in your previous I-Corps
experiences:
[Mentor / Industry Expert]

KEEP

REMOVE

REMOVE

Please select the role(s) you have had
in your previous I-Corps
experiences:
[Principal Investigator]

REMOVE

Briefly describe the team name(s), and
the date and location of
course(s) you
attended.

REMOVE

What are you, personally, most eager to
learn from the I-Corps
course?
[Assessing my technology's readiness
for commercialization]

KEEP

What are you, personally, most eager to
learn from the I-Corps
course?
[Identifying a viable commercialization
path for my technology]

KEEP

What are you, personally, most eager to
learn from the I-Corps
course?
[Developing a scalable business model
for my technology]

KEEP

What are you, personally, most eager to
learn from the I-Corps
course?
[Learning how to start my own company]

KEEP

What are you, personally, most eager to
learn from the I-Corps
course?
[Identifying and validating the market
for a product based on my
technology]

KEEP

What are you, personally, most eager to
learn from the I-Corps
course?
[Identifying partners to commercialize
my technology]

KEEP

What are you, personally, most eager to
learn from the I-Corps
course? [Getting
investors interested in supporting my
technology]

KEEP

If you have any comments on what you
would like to learn from
the I-Corps
course, please share them below.

REMOVE

The I-Corps course is organized around
nine components of
Osterwalder's
Business Model Canvas (listed below).
Indicate how
knowledgeable you are
about each component. [Customer
segments]
KEEP

Questions
aren't asked any more. With
current database information can be seen as
the
other I-Corps courses in which they
participated.

Added
these questions back in (stopped
asking post 2014). We asked them in the
post. To see whether participants' attitudes
or future plans change as a
result of
participating in the course fits from a
research perspective and
with the NSF logic
model. CAVEAT: Changed the scale to reflect
best practices
in survey methods [current
scale: Not at all interested, Mildly
interested,Very interested, Most
interested,Non-Applicable or missing- Change
to:  not at all, slightly, somewhat,
very,
extremely]

No
need to add back another open-ender

Examined
the std dev. Within each
individual's responses to determine the
frequency
with which respondents provide the
same answers across the 9 components of
the
BMC. Analyses showed that there was
variation in how individuals
responded to
each component in two-thirds of the sample.
An examination by
role, did not show that
one group (e.g., EL) was more prone 

The I-Corps course is organized around
nine components of
Osterwalder's
Business Model Canvas (listed below).
Indicate how
knowledgeable you are
about each component. [Customer
relationships]

KEEP

The I-Corps course is organized around
nine components of
Osterwalder's
Business Model Canvas (listed below).
Indicate how
knowledgeable you are
about each component. [Channels]

KEEP

The I-Corps course is organized around
nine components of
Osterwalder's
Business Model Canvas (listed below).
Indicate how
knowledgeable you are
about each component. [Key resources]

KEEP

The I-Corps course is organized around
nine components of
Osterwalder's
Business Model Canvas (listed below).
Indicate how
knowledgeable you are
about each component. [Value
propositions]

KEEP

The I-Corps course is organized around
nine components of
Osterwalder's
Business Model Canvas (listed below).
Indicate how
knowledgeable you are
about each component. [Key activities]

KEEP

The I-Corps course is organized around
nine components of
Osterwalder's
Business Model Canvas (listed below).
Indicate how
knowledgeable you are
about each component. [Revenue streams]

KEEP

`
The I-Corps course is organized around
nine components of
Osterwalder's
Business Model Canvas (listed below).
Indicate how
knowledgeable you are
about each component. [Cost structure]

KEEP

KEEP

If you have any comments on your
knowledge of the components of
the
Business Model Canvas, please share
them below.
REMOVE

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Contributed ideas utilized

Note:
As we have the retro pre-post BMC
questions in the post course survey, these
questions are more useful as a proxy for
pre-course "confidence" in
their knowledge
of business concepts. CAVEAT: changed the
scale to better
comply to best practices in
survey methods [cuurent scale: Nothing/None,
Very
little, Not sure, Some, A great deal,
Non-Applicable or missing - Change to:
Not
at all, slightly, somewhat, very, extremely]

About
20% of respondents answered thisoften with misc. statements not related to
the BMC or statements that don't seemingly
add much to an understanding of
their prior
experience with the BMC (e.g., "Please note
that I agreed to
assist this team < 1 week
ago after their original mentor was unable
to
continue working with them." or "I am
looking forward to the deeper
dive into this
whole process.")

by a
company to improve a product,
service, or process]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Presented a business idea
to
investors]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Generated trade secrets]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Served on a corporate
advisory
board]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Founded or co-founded a
venture
that developed or sold products
or services based on your research]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Participated in the
technology
transfer process at your
university]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Disclosed an invention to
the
university]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Licensed your
research/technology]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Received royalties for
your work]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Participated in industryfunded
research]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Issued a patent]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Interviewed potential
customers
about a product, service, or
technology]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Conducted market research]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Indicate how many times you have
participated in the following
experiences prior to your involvement
in the I-Corps program. Enter zero (0)
if you did not have any prior
experience: [Applied for a patent as an
inventor or co-inventor]

KEEP

Set
a maximum number. We always get one or
two outliers that are probably typos.

Provide a brief abstract of your
technology and the market
opportunity
as you currently understand it (250
word limit).

REMOVE

We
can find this information in their grant
record. We don't need to ask them to
write
out their abstract again.

Indicate your level of agreement with
the following statements
about the
current status of your technology and
future plans. [I have
adequately
assessed my technology's readiness for
commercialization.]

KEEP

Indicate your level of agreement with
the following statements
about the
current status of your technology and

future plans. [I have
identified a
viable commercialization path for my
technology.]

KEEP

Indicate your level of agreement with
the following statements
about the
current status of your technology and
future plans. [I have
developed a
scalable business model.]

KEEP

Indicate your level of agreement with
the following statements
about the
current status of your technology and
future plans. [I will apply
for SBIR
funding for my technology in the next
12 months.]

KEEP

Indicate your level of agreement with
the following statements
about the
current status of your technology and
future plans. [I will seek
other
funding or investment for my technology
within the next 12 months.]

KEEP

Indicate your level of agreement with
the following statements
about the
current status of your technology and
future plans. [I am
interested in
starting my own company.]

KEEP

Indicate your level of agreement with
the following statements
about the
current status of your technology and
future plans. [I am
interested in
working in a technology-based start
up.]

KEEP

Indicate your level of agreement with
the following statements
about the
current status of your technology and
future plans. [I have defined
a minimum
viable prototype for my product.]

KEEP

Indicate your level of agreement with
the following statements
about the
current status of your technology and
future plans. [I have
identified and
validated the market for a product
based on my technology.]

KEEP

If you have any comments on the current
status of you technology
and future
plans, please share them below:

CAVEAT:
Changed this scale completely from
an endorsement of the items  (i.e., Totally
disagree to Totally agree)
to a confidence
scale (e.g., not at all to extremely). This
would also need
to be changed for the post
course as well.

REMOVE

It's
rare- if ever- that we receive comments
here.