Three Critical Elements of Start-Up Success

Compared to the already complex and difficult pathway to market for innovative start-ups, innovators in forensic sciences face additional challenges when developing a technology or a service for the market. This chapter presents a(n) (self-)assessment method for founders and investors to estimate and monitor the success potential of a start-up based on three critical elements: time, team, and traction. Time refers to the temporal factors that influence a start-up’s performance and profitability. Team relates to the people who work on the start-up and their characteristics. Traction refers to the evidence of customer demand for the start-up’s product or service. The chapter also features the context for innovation through presenting the evolution of the “helix” models (triple, quadruple, quintuple), and the most popular tools to measure readiness level at increasing complexity, from the well known Technology Readiness Level to the KTH Innovation Readiness LevelTM. Finally, itt also provides examples from the forensic market and suggests some practical tips to balance and optimize these elements, aiming to help forensic science practitioners and researchers to bring their innovations to the market.