Read
what students say. After the class or presentation, the published paper, class handout, or a summary
of the material will be in the Papers
section. For
example, I perform in five complementary areas:
I teach because the act of teaching impels a depth of understanding and crispness of communication of the fundamentals of marketing. I teach because this provides a platform to create, develop, and articulate advanced methods and processes in marketing. I teach because I support and give to my community of business people, entrepreneurs, and technologists. I teach because it nourishes and reinforces my practice, helping me to serve my clients and companies better. Except for a paid Adjunct Professorship at Suffolk University, I teach pro-bono.
Read
what students say. After the class or presentation, the published paper, class handout, or a summary
of the material will be in the Papers
section. For
example,
"What Do
Customers Want?
Upstream Market Research Tools Find The Facts" A Guest Lecture in Professor Barry Unger's graduate
course.
|
 |
| "Neat Technology, But Who Will Buy It?" Merrimack Valley Venture Forum (MVVF) on September 8, 2004 at UMass/Lowell. Such luminaries as the father of the semiconductor wafer stepper, Runner-Up in the 2004 MIT $50K Entrepreneurship Competition, and the grandson of the inventor of the microwave oven cite "lessons learned" as they portray current - and past - companies with extraordinary technology. |  |
"Driven
By The Data, Using Up Front Market Research To Guide Product
Development, Financial, Promotion, And Sales Decisions" - Master Class for two of Professor Barry
Unger's Boston University courses, combined for one evening for this special
program 6 PM to 7:30 PM Wednesday, October 22, 2003. RSVP
on-line.
Market research is often looked upon as relevant only to product development, simply to guide engineering. In fact, upstream market research and the Market Research Staff also play pivotal roles to steer the downstream promoting and selling processes, and to lead the entire enterprise.
Driven by the data, real-life examples illustrate how good, up-front market research brings about an integrated strategy for financial and staffing decisions, for design, manufacturing, promoting, selling, service, and across the organization. Tools will be demonstrated for the Market Research Staff to collect that data, to deliver an integrated strategy, and to fulfill their leadership responsibility.
Adjunct
Professor, Suffolk University Sawyer School of Management, Executive MBA Program
Boston University MBA with concentration in Innovation and Technology
New Ventures Association (NVA) of MIT's Sloan School of Management
Boston College Wallace E. Carroll Graduate School of Management
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI)
Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC)
Product Development and Management Association (PDMA)
Merrimack Valley Venture Forum (MVVF) at UMass/Lowell
BU School of Management, Technology Commercialization
Greater Nashua Software Entrepreneurs Group (GNSEG)
Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP)
The Corporate Board, Journal of Corporate Governance
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Venture Forum
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
Korea Industrial Technology Association (KOITA)
Boston Product Management Association (BPMA)
Software Association of New Hampshire (SwANH)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
MIT Sloan Graduate School of Management
Entrepreneurs' Network (ENET) of the IEEE
American Marketing Association (AMA)
MIT Enterprise Forum Spring Workshop
Automated Imaging Association (AIA)
Sales and Marketing Executives (SME)
MIT Enterprise Forum Fall Workshop
128 Venture Capital Group (128VCG)
Medical Development Group (MDG)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
MIT Enterprise Forum
MIT's Entrepreneurship program
I co-founded MIT's entrepreneurship program in the 1980s.
This was launched under the auspices of the MIT Enterprise Forum and,
after it was formed later by others, also
sponsored by MIT's
Entrepreneurship Center. Our goal was to teach technologists the
entrepreneurial process, the upstream marketing process, and the
relationship between marketing and engineering.
I also co-founded the popular MIT Sloan School of Management graduate course, 15.976, "Starting And Running A High Tech Company." The lessons were designed to teach Sloan MBA students the entrepreneurial process, management of the startup, marketing budgeting, and the upstream marketing process. Besides helping to create and direct MIT's original entrepreneurship program, I taught the "High Tech Marketing And Sales" section for twelve years, incorporating this material into the Sloan grad course. Four segments from the first Course Reader for the Sloan course 15.976, from the "High Tech Marketing And Sales" portion, are on line at: |
It is a pleasure to teach. From time-to-time, students will comment on their learning experience. Send yours to ralph@marketingvp.com. These thoughts are shared with the permission of my pupils.
Tom Cole, President of Atlantis Components, was honored by the MIT Enterprise Forum with an invitation to present his company's business case at one of their Startup Sessions. After his delivery, he concluded to the audience of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and business people;
"I attended MIT's annual entrepreneurship course taught by Ralph Grabowski. His Marketing/Engineering Investment Ratio method and his other teachings became the cornerstone of the Atlantis Components' marketing plan. The effort which we put into the marketing side of the business paid off handsomely - we now have a product that people want to buy!"
Kenneth E. Shostack, a businessman from Savyon, Israel specializing in multi-national, technology-based enterprises, remarks,
"I intend to come to your future talks, as I enjoy watching you present. Both your content and style are worth the time."
Michael Szycher, Ph.D. MD MBA, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CardioTech in Woburn, MA writes about his application of my teaching to his company's needs, during a Suffolk University Executive MBA course,
"Dear Professor Grabowski,
"Enclosed please find copies of one of our reprints highlighted the way that you showed us in class. I will be using these reprints and many of your teachings in our marketing efforts.
"I greatly enjoyed your course and hope that future students will benefit as much as I did. For all that you taught me, I remain your grateful student."
Paul T. Chang founded Microwave Logic Inc. in Chelmsford, MA and cashed out in an acquisition by Tektronix. He describes his success applying my methods,
"It was a pleasure to talk with you personally at the IEEE Entrepreneurs' Network meeting this week. The methods I learned from you have made significant contributions to my entrepreneurial success.
"I have attended the MIT Enterprise Forum for a number of years, especially during the startup phase of Microwave Logic, as well as attending your 1992 Spring Workshop. The course went beyond mere theory; it proved to be practical as well as enjoyable. For example, you describe the techniques you used to grow Brooks Automation in 'Marketing, Promotion, and Selling' at the MIT Enterprise Forum's program. The colorful cover-page stories for their new product roll out really struck me as a powerful yet inexpensive tool. [Also visit a related paper on repositioning Brooks Automation for dynamic growth.]
"Your methods work! I immediately applied them to enable our small company to gain market attention. Your procedures helped Microwave Logic in initiating our OEM business relationship with Tektronix. Last year, Tektronix acquired Microwave Logic.
"I am very happy! I achieved my entrepreneurial goals of rapid growth; from basement startup to sales of over $10 million and a cash-out by acquisition, in less than six years. Our investors are very happy, especially Morgan, Holland Ventures Corp. [now OneLiberty Ventures] and Aspen Venture Partners, L.P."
Paul Rosenstein, MIT Sloan School of Management class of '99, summarized his learning experience during MIT's annual entrepreneurship course, "Starting And Running A High Tech Company,
"You gave me the tools."
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