A new director of Cambridge Enterprise (CE) has been appointed to head up technology transfer and consultancy services.
Dr Richard Jennings appears to have a solid track record in the area, according to his CV: director of previous Cambridge University enterprise businesses Wolfson Cambridge Industrial Unit, also of Lynxvale, the forerunner of CE and CUTS (Cambridge University Technical Services).
I don’t know him personally but one does wonder if it is a good idea to be a career manager of technology commercialisation. Can you stay fresh in such a position, the sort of freshness which seems necessary in the fast moving world of technology start-ups? Or perhaps these sorts of roles are purely administrative in nature.
Venture capitalists have always appeared polite if sometimes a little weary while listening to some preposterous scheme. However, I remember attending one such presentation at a London venture capital event a few years ago, which descended into derisive laughter as the presenters of a scheme to save the world with an, as yet, unspecified technology revealed themselves as the minutes passed to be truly crackers.
Perhaps at Cambridge Enterprise Jennings can at least be assured of the quality of opportunities that will pass his way and maybe that is enough to keep him engaged.