Risk Management for Startups

In this episode we explore the need for operational risk management by startups. I'm joined by Mr. Rick Gardener, executive director of the University of Buffalo's Business and Entrepreneurship Partnerships office. Rick has experience in all types of business settings from startups to NFPs. He holds 32 patents and brings a risk management perspective to his work.

When you talk about risk management for startups, Rick introduces the idea of moving from "the land of possibility" to a more firm perspective...  identifying the actual risks that are going to get in the way of bringing your product to market. This is often a challenge for founders, and may be especially applicable for tech startups.  

Rick sees an additional challenge for technical startups. The bulk of their work and thinking has been technical in nature. While it's important to overcome the technical obstacles, it is equally important to understand and plan for commercialization challenges.

Rick has some awesome insights and offers some best practices on dealing with risk and commercialization for startups.