Great Research Institutes Play Chess Not checkers

Most people think research commercialisation is just pushing pieces forward in straight lines. Make the obvious move. Capture value. Get to the other side.

This simple view is killing everyone's upside.

Research institutes force complex opportunities into rigid pathways, diluting their potential. Tech transfer offices build administrative mazes that slow everything down. VCs push for focus on obvious commercial wins, inadvertently limiting deeper opportunities that could emerge from continued scientific advancement.

The cost? Groundbreaking technologies deliver fraction of their potential. Researchers get pulled from discovery too early. VCs miss the compound returns that come from deeper scientific progress. Institutions fail to create lasting impact. Everyone gets less than they could.

Consider Oxford Nanopore in 2005. On paper, everything looked like a simple progression. Professor Hagan Bayley's lab had developed their breakthrough nanopore technology for DNA sequencing. The science was proven. The patents were filed. Just push forward to market [1].

But as commercialisation began, the true complexity emerged. Three distinct strategies needed sophisticated orchestration:

The researchers played for scientific advancement, thinking multiple moves ahead. The university developed complex positions around future IP rights. IP Group, providing the initial investment, needed precise timing for market opportunities[^2].

These weren't just competing priorities. They were sophisticated games being forced onto a simple board. Treated as linear choices, they would destroy each other. The very complexity that could create extraordinary value threatened to tear everything apart.

But Oxford Nanopore saw something different. Instead of forcing everyone into simple forward moves, they created space for sophisticated play across multiple fronts.

What emerged from Oxford Nanopore wasn't just parallel play - it was strategic brilliance. They created an environment where Bayley's lab could push scientific boundaries while the company developed commercial applications. The university maintained valuable IP rights while enabling rapid development. Their commercial team built market position without compromising academic collaboration.

This wasn't luck or compromise - it was sophisticated gameplay at its finest. When Bayley's lab published breakthroughs in nanopore science, it strengthened both their academic standing and the company's technical foundation. When the commercial team developed new applications, they created both market opportunities and research possibilities.

The results speak for themselves. By 2021, Oxford Nanopore had achieved a £3.4B market position [3]. But more tellingly, they'd done it while maintaining strong academic collaborations throughout their growth - something most companies find impossible. They hadn't just balanced competing priorities; they'd found ways to make them multiply each other's impact.

We're seeing Oxford Nanopore's insight play out across quantum technology, biotech, and clean energy innovations. Most institutes still try to reduce complex strategic challenges to simple linear moves. They force binary choices between academic and commercial paths. They create rigid processes that ignore the need for strategic flexibility.

The alternative? Create frameworks that let different strategic priorities strengthen each other. Build environments where academic depth creates commercial advantage. Where market insight shapes research direction. Where institutional interests align with practical progress rather than constraining it.

Successes like Oxford Nanopore's reveals what masterful orchestration looks like in practice:

Create Distinct Arenas

Build spaces where each game can develop its own sophistication. Let academic projects evolve on different timeframes from commercial ones. Give each priority room to develop strategic depth.

Design Strategic Connections

Craft pathways where advances in one game create opportunities in others. Build review processes that translate academic insights into commercial advantages. Enable value to flow and multiply between games.

Protect Strategic Resources

Ensure each game has the resources to develop sophistication. Shield academic independence. Build commercial capability. Create infrastructure that serves multiple strategic objectives.

The Francis Crick Institute demonstrates this orchestration through their "Discovery Without Boundaries" framework [5]. The Max Planck Society shows another variation, with their technology transfer arm developing positions that strengthen both academic and commercial advancement simultaneously [6].

The best outcomes don't come from forcing everyone to play the same game. They emerge from creating spaces where multiple sophisticated strategies strengthen each other.

At Bright Arena, we've mastered this orchestration. We help institutes move beyond the false choice between academic excellence and commercial impact. We create the frameworks that let you play multiple sophisticated games simultaneously. Not through rigid processes or simple formulas, but through careful design of spaces where different strategic priorities naturally strengthen each other.

You don't need to reinvent this pattern. Learn from what worked - and what failed - in journeys like Oxford Nanopore's. Let us help you build the spaces where multiple sophisticated games can flourish.

The future belongs to institutes that understand: The best outcomes don't come from playing one game well - they come from mastering multiple sophisticated games simultaneously.

Ready to start orchestrating multiple games in your institute? Take 15 minutes with your commercialisation team:

See Your Games

• What hidden games drive each stakeholder's moves?
• Where do these games naturally collide?
• Where might they amplify each other?

Design Your Space

• How could you make other players' strategies visible earlier?
• What structures could let parallel games flourish?
• Where could understanding replace negotiation?

[1]: Bayley, H. (2015). "Nanopore sequencing: from imagination to reality." Clinical Chemistry.

[2]: Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc. (2021). "Registration Document." London Stock Exchange.

[3]: London Stock Exchange. (2021). "Oxford Nanopore Technologies Admission and Prospectus."

[4]: Australia's Economic Accelerator. (2023). "Driving Research Translation." Department of Education.

[5]: The Francis Crick Institute. (2022). "Discovery Without Boundaries: Strategy 2022-2026." London: The Francis Crick Institute.

[6]: Max Planck Innovation GmbH. (2022). "Annual Report 2022." Munich: Max Planck Society.