Browse Newsletters

Click here for a simple alphabetical listing of all Newsletters

Newsletter – One Person, One Vote (Vol. 2, No. 3)

By wcrdadmin on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 09:57

One Person, One Vote⁺

This month's we discuss wealth creation for Intellectual Capital⁺. Unpredictable R&D⁺, our target investment, is an extreme form of Intellectual Capital, in that we don't know when or how it will be commercially exploited.

These are for the most part intangible assets. Wealth creation within these assets is similarly intangible. There are no physical manifestations of these assets equivalent in value to the wealth they get assigned. Investors need to get into the minds of those creating the Intellectual Capital to appreciate the validity of this created wealth. This only really happens within a community of investors. And our community must consist of citizen-investors, each citizen having the vote (and only one vote).

The home page articles give the big picture. Editors' Picks provide many of the operational details. See Separation of Voting Rights from Cash Flow for an explanation of how the one person, one vote rule can be justified in a financial world filled with investors of every economic strata.

September 2011 Home Page

Newsletter – Franchise Capital Management (Vol. 2, No. 2)

By wcrdadmin on Sat, 04/16/2011 - 22:58

Franchise Capital Management⁺

This month's home page has as its topic Franchise Capital Management. The articles for this topic describe a new approach for funding of R&D. We are no longer reliant on venture capital or corporate funding in order to take exciting research and turn it into blockbuster⁺ commercial products.

The home page articles give the big picture. Editors' Picks provide many of the operational details. This is a very financially oriented view toward R&D. It helps if the reader has followed the arguments for increasing R&D productivity over the last 8 issues of this website, but we have included a summary article for those just now getting introduced to the challenge (here).

April 2011 Home Page

Newsletter – Mgmt. Tools & Techniques (Vol. 2, No. 1)

By wcrdadmin on Fri, 01/28/2011 - 13:46

Management Tools and Techniques

This month's home page has as its topic Management Tools and Techniques. These articles help you select the tools & techniques you'll need when operating a World Class R&D-capable organization.

Much more exciting, and controversial, is the topic of the Editors' Picks for this month: the inevitable decline of many of today's R&D-centric industries. It now seems these venerable institutions will not pull out of their tailspins. Men found within these industries are incapable of embracing the major changes needed to move toward a World Class R&D capability. This conversation easily overshadows the headline topic for this month.

January 2011 Home Page

Newsletter – End-Game Investment Category (Vol. 1, No. 7)

By wcrdadmin on Sat, 10/16/2010 - 22:25

End-Game⁺ (Investment Category⁺)

This month we finish our discussion of the investment categories with end-game: how we shut down research units that no longer have blockbuster⁺ potential. We argue that it pays well to end well. What you do to a research unit at the end is closely watched by all the other research units that are not ending. They’ll either applaud your actions or they’ll quickly look around for the emergency exit. You don’t get good research from insecure researchers. How you do end-game sets the stage for how well you’ll be able to do mid-game⁺.

October 2010 Home Page

Newsletter – Commercialization Investment Category (Vol. 1, No. 6)

By wcrdadmin on Mon, 09/06/2010 - 01:00

Commercialization (Investment Category⁺)

We continue our discussions of Investment Categories with a description of Commercialization. Commercialization refers to all the activities required to take an R&D prototype⁺ and to finish it so it can be commercially marketed. This includes Industrial Design⁺ of the product and readying it for manufacturing. This includes preparation of the marketplace for the product's launch. In some industries it includes gaining regulatory approval for the product (e.g., the pharmaceutical industry and its mandated pivotal clinical trials). Commercialization is often the area having the greatest one-time spend, and the highest risk for product failure.

September 2010 Home Page

Newsletter – Buffeting Winds (Vol. 1, No. 5)

By wcrdadmin on Fri, 07/30/2010 - 15:16

Buffeting Winds

We take a brief break from discussion of the Investment Categories⁺ to discuss protecting R&D from the buffeting winds of the corporation. By this we refer to actions taken by c-level individuals that hurt R&D, despite achievement of performance goals by R&D. For example, arbitrary budget cuts often affect R&D for the sake of short term profit goals (or bumps in share prices). We discuss mechanisms for how R&D can better protect itself from these winds.

August 2010 Home Page

Newsletter – Mid-Game Investment Category (Vol. 1, No. 4)

By wcrdadmin on Sat, 07/03/2010 - 11:09

Mid-Game (Investment Category⁺)

We continue the description of Investment Categories by discussing mid-game. These are the Investible Units⁺ where we have already placed our bets. How do we track their progress? How do we ensure they are as successful as can be?

July 2010 Home Page

Newsletter – Pre-Game Investment Category (Vol. 1, No. 3)

By wcrdadmin on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 12:11

Pre-Game⁺ (Investment Category⁺)

We introduce the concept of Investment Categories. Different types of investment bring different challenges to managing the expectations and anxieties of the funding agent⁺ (investor) and the researchers. We introduce the four investment categories: pre-game, mid-game⁺, end-game⁺ and commercialization⁺. This month's featured articles describe the investment needs for pre-game. Pre-game is how we decide where and how to place our investment bets for new areas of research, i.e., new Investible Units⁺.

June 2010 Home Page

Newsletter – R&D Operating Models (Vol. 1, No. 2)

By wcrdadmin on Wed, 05/19/2010 - 10:50

R&D Operating Models

This month we feature a discussion of World Class R&D Operating Models. This describes at a high level different ways in which R&D can be operated as a business. For example, we describe the Franchise Model, which spins off Investible Units⁺ as separate legal entities held to very strict franchise performance standards and rules. We discuss Venture Management, operating R&D in a manner similar to what would be seen in financing arrangements with a Venture Capitalist. Several models are discussed, and later we tailor the best of each of the models to the particular circumstances of the targeted R&D organization.

May 2010 Home Page

Newsletter – Introduction to the Investible Unit (Vol. 1, No. 1)

By wcrdadmin on Sun, 05/02/2010 - 10:24

Investible Unit⁺

Our first issue introduces the concept of the Investible Unit, a key concept within World Class R&D. We define this as a collection of people, technology, intellectual property, mission and organization seeking funding for industrial research. This is important because in World Class R&D we seek to balance the financial and emotional needs of individuals on each side of this transaction: the investor on the one hand, and the individuals within the research unit on the other. This balance drives almost every recommendation in the hundreds of pages of materials found on this website.

April 2010 Home Page

User login