These courses are available to all Georgia Tech faculty, staff, and student innovators and entrepreneurs who wish to learn more about launching a startup. Courses are part of the Georgia Tech Integrated Program for Startups (GT:IPS^®).  

Please note that these files are password protected and available exclusively to Georgia Tech personnel.

Georgia Tech Integrated Program for Startups (GT:IPS^®)

The Georgia Tech Integrated Program for Startups is a streamlined training program and licensing process available to all Georgia Tech faculty and students interested in forming a company around a Georgia Tech innovation. Participants who successfully complete the program are eligible for GT:IPS licensing of Georgia Tech technologies. A GT:IPS license is an express license that eliminates the negotiating process, dramatically reducing the time required to finalize a licensing deal. GT:IPS licensees also have access to the best commercially reasonable terms that GTRC can provide. Presentations from some of the training sessions are now available online (see below). Please note that these files are password protected and available exclusively to Georgia Tech personnel.

GT:IPS Required Courses

• Business Opportunity: Identifying and memorializing the business aspects of a startup company is vital. This course addresses how to identify your company’s business opportunity and prepare a business plan, from anticipating the potential market to defining exit strategies.  (PDF | Audio file)
• Company Creation: Where do I start in forming a new company? This course addresses this question by discussing topics such as the different types of corporate structures, how to incorporate, and how to identify your company’s team and is taught from a corporate lawyer’s perspective. (PowerPoint)
• Conflict of Interest: Led by the Director of Conflict of Interest Management, this session provides an outline of the guidelines of Georgia Tech’s conflict of interest policy and the COI review process. In addition, the course provides participants from the Georgia Tech community a foundation of how to identify a potential conflict of interest, the potential effects on ongoing research, and possible solutions to manage them. (PowerPoint | Audio file)
• Intellectual Property: Learn about the basics in the process of securing a United States patent from filing to issuance from Ryan Schneider, a partner in Troutman Sanders’ Intellectual Property Group. This session will explain the patent process as well as the role of the inventor in working with patent counsel. This course will also address how to conduct and make use of prior art and freedom to practice searches, as well as strategies to consider in filing foreign patent applications. (Video file)

GT:IPS Electives

• Copyright: Learn about the basics of copyright law, including what is protectable by copyright, how to secure a copyright, and what advantages copyright protection provides. In particular, this course focuses on copyright issues pertaining to software code, design drawings, and other technical reports and data. (PowerPoint)
• Early Stage Funding: This course discusses very early/seed stage funding opportunities for startups. If your company is not quite ready to apply for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funds, there are a number of other funding sources that can be tapped. The instructors provide an overview of these sources, discuss eligibility, and provide guidance on allowable uses of the money.  (PDF | Audio file)
• Nondilutive Funding: University-related startup companies have a variety of potential funding sources. SBIR and STTR grants and contracts annually account for $2.3 billion in seed funding awarded to small businesses to perform research and development. SBIR/STTR awards are granted by 11 different federal agencies and are critical to small emerging technology companies as they prepare their technology for commercial application. However, the submission and award processes for this mechanism are different from the academic grant mechanism, and the funding rate is only 10 to 15%. (PowerPoint | Audio file)
• Patenting Strategies: My company wants to file a patent application, so where, when, and how do I do so? This class focuses on topics to consider in deciding when to file a patent application and in what countries, as well as prosecution strategies that a company may consider in best protecting its intellectual property. (PowerPoint | Audio file)
• Panel of Entrepreneurs: Led by Jeffrey McConnell, Whisper Communications, LLC (software startup); Steve Chaddick, Ridgewood Advisors, LLC (software and devices); Daniel White, Clearside BioMedical, Inc. (biotech startup). Three experienced entrepreneurs and angel investors discuss a variety of topics, from factors involved in choosing whether to fund a startup to how to present your company to attract investors. (Audio file)
• Overview of FDA Regulation of Medical Devices: This presentation will provide a basic overview of the regulatory requirements for medical devices. It will cover the laws that regulate medical devices, post-market surveillance requirements, labeling and promotion of medical devices, and interactions with the FDA. (PowerPoint | Video file)

Note: The presentations and recordings on this Web page are provided for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal or business advice. The information may not reflect the views of the speaker’s employer and/or GTRC. Accessing this information does not create an attorney-client relationship and you are encouraged to retain your own attorney to provide legal counsel and advice. In addition, the information contained in these presentations was accurate at the time of recording; however, certain rules and regulations may have changed.

GT:IPS^® is a registered trademark of the Georgia Tech Research Corporation.