Biotopia

A Korean agricultural biotechnology company spun out from university research is at a crossroads. Using advanced fermentation technology, it has created a string of unique products for consumers and farmers. It now has an opportunity to license and develop a proprietary technology to solve a major social problem: odour from animal waste. Should it devote all its efforts to this new technology and new market?

Using the example of an entrepreneurial company that developed a product portfolio over 15 years, students are able (1) to chart a logical growth path around proprietary intellectual property; (2) to consider when and how to pivot from one technological trajectory to another; (3) to understand how entrepreneurial ventures develop and deploy competencies as a complex bundle of technological, applications and market knowledge.