From doctoral student to entrepreneur

“What do I do after my PhD?” 

This is a pivotal question that, unfortunately, many PhD candidates do not seriously ask themselves until after they finish their degrees. I was fortunate enough to have people around me who constantly reminded me to think about this question, so it has been on my mind throughout my doctoral studies. 

Over the past few years, I have explored several possible career paths, from academia to becoming a financial analyst. I participated in many different career exploration programs offered by my university and elsewhere, and even wrote the CFA Level I exam. But ultimately, my exploration led me toward entrepreneurship. Currently, as I wrap up my doctorate in biomedical engineering, I am working towards spinning off my research in periodontal regeneration into a viable startup.

Throughout my undergraduate and master’s degrees, I had always been somewhat interested in entrepreneurship, particularly the idea of taking whatever I was researching and spinning it off into a startup. However, I had very little idea of what that actually entailed or how someone even got started. With that somewhat lofty potential goal in mind, I selected a PhD project that I thought could have future commercialization potential. 

Accelerators and entrepreneurship programs 

One program that helped me tremendously was the 2nd Lab Mentorship Program, offered as part of Canadian Biomaterials Society and run by Dr. Gad Sabbatier.  Dr. Sabbatier wrote an excellent article about resources researchers can use to spin off their work, and I have personally taken advantage of many of the programs he discusses.  

One of the foundational programs that really got me started on my entrepreneurship journey was Lab2Market Validate. As part of the program, I interviewed 50+ stakeholders related to my startup idea.  This process forced me to step outside of the lab, talk to potential users and other stakeholders, and understand whether the problem I was trying to solve actually mattered to people outside of academia. 

I really enjoyed that process, and the interviews helped confirm that there was a substantial market for my technology. That gave me the confidence to take the idea more seriously and apply to a number of accelerators and entrepreneurship programs, including the Health Innovation Hub (H2i), University of Toronto Early Stage Technology (UTEST), Innovation Boost Zone (IBZ) Innovation Fellowship, BioHubNet OBIO Entrepreneurship Boot Camp, and the i2I Skills Training Program. 

It has been a very rewarding experience so far, with each program teaching me something slightly different about entrepreneurship, commercialisation and myself. Most recently, I was fortunate enough to win second place at the IPON Demo Day pitch competition.  The $3,000 prize gives the startup a much-needed boost to cover essential expenses such as incorporation, patent filing and medical-grade materials procurement.  

Advice and takeaways 

So, what are my takeaways? 

First, ask yourself whether entrepreneurship is something you are even remotely interested in. If it is, and if you have the opportunity, consider selecting or defining a PhD research project that has some application potential rather than being purely fundamental and theoretical. That does not mean every doctorate project needs to become a company, but thinking about how your work might eventually create value outside the lab can open possibilities. 

Second, find out what resources, mentors and training opportunities are available within and around your institution, and try a few of them. You do not have to decide immediately that you want to become an entrepreneur. Career exploration, after all, is just an exploration. 

If you find yourself becoming more interested and ready to commit, do not be shy about participating in as many useful training opportunities as you can. Early-stage entrepreneurship can be chaotic; you often need to think about many different things simultaneously, such as science, intellectual property, customers, funding, regulatory pathways, pitching and business strategy — all largely on your own. Having mentors, peers, and different people who can explain the same concepts may collectively improve your understanding of what needs to be done. 

Most importantly, “entrepreneur” is not a scary title. Many of the skills required for entrepreneurship, such as problem-solving, dealing with uncertainty, learning quickly, communicating complex ideas, and persevering when things do not work the first time, are already developed during a doctorate program. 

Be curious, stay open-minded, and sign up for things. You never know which opportunity might change the direction of your career!