Ever noticed how tough it is to answer the question: what is it you do? That’s because it’s an enormous task to fit in years or decades of research and volumes of technical data into a <1 minute or elevator pitch.

To address that mountain of a task, last week, the amplifyHERscience team hosted the first of what we hope will be a series of 'Elevator Pitch Intensives.' Four impressive Yale PIs (bravely) spent a productive hour with us honing in on the fundamentals of their innovations through the development of a very brief - seriously, like 1-2 sentences brief - elevator pitch. In a totally safe space where mistakes are encouraged, we asked them to ponder these 3 questions: 

• What problem are you solving?
• Whom are you solving it for?
• What is your solution & how is it better?

Would you be interested in joining an upcoming Elevator Pitch Intensive? Please email us at amplifyherscience@yale.edu if so. A simple, "I'm interested" will suffice and we will respond with all the details. No prep required!

Now, there are a number of events, deadlines, and interesting news items we unpacked below. Please enjoy!

The application deadline for the Roberts Innovation Fund is next Wednesday, Nov. 16.

The Roberts Innovation Fund is a new initiative launched in 2022 to accelerate the engine of innovation at the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science. Thanks to a generous gift from Will Roberts ’90, this fund will provide faculty mentoring, business training and funding to assist in the commercialization of breakthrough inventions. Faculty applicants will also receive valuable feedback from the Fund’s director as well as from an external advisory board from industry, all of whom have invested in and/or built technology ventures.

This month's Collaborative CT mixer takes place following Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce's Big Connect Expo. Feel free to check out the Expo at no cost before the networking begins at 4:30pm, including a discussion on Entrepreneurship from 3:30pm - 4:30pm.

FREE TO REGISTER WITH YALE.EDU EMAIL ADDRESS

Top innovators, investors and business leaders will come together at this event to participate in discussions that will shape and transform the future of healthcare. The coming decade is poised to accelerate the transformation of the healthcare ecosystem dramatically. Be a part of the discussion at BioFuture.

Across two days, the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Forum will provide a wide range of strategies and best practices for pharma and biotech companies looking to improve their diversity efforts across all areas of business, while also providing a deep dive into key areas and access to leaders across functions.

In this workshop, Danielle Silva, Assistant Vice President at Capital Advisors Group, will give an overview of the nuts and bolts of fundraising and venture capital in the life sciences space. She will cover the stages of investment from pre-seed to exit/IPO, different types of investors, including venture capital funds and family offices, and deal structures, including equity and debt. Danielle will also give an overview of the top ten fundraising mistakes she’s seen in her decade of experience helping life science companies raise funding and discuss changes to the landscape over the past couple of years.

Hear from a panel including university technology transfer officer, founder, pharma investor, & IP attorney about:

  - How to identify the value of your idea

  - How to secure intellectual property

  - How to negotiate idea ownership

The amplifyHERscience team