Join us for an extraordinary conversation with Peter Winton, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Nottingham and member of the Royal Society's Industry College. With over 50 years spanning Ford Motor Company, 22 years at Rolls-Royce, and six years supporting academic spin-outs, Peter shares his unconventional journey from apprentice engineer to master translator between academic research and commercial opportunity.

Peter's career philosophy challenges conventional wisdom: choosing breadth over hierarchical advancement, embracing strategic quits as career-defining moments, and recognizing that "the only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth." In this episode, Peter delivers masterclasses in translation, revealing how to transform impenetrable scientific abstracts into compelling business value propositions. He explains why academic competition happens "with the guy in the office next door," why EIR engagements require minimum three-year commitments, and why "I don't know" are the three most powerful words in any language.

Whether you're an aspiring EIR, university administrator, corporate innovation leader, or anyone interested in technology commercialization, Peter's insights will transform how you think about bridging academic and industrial worlds.

Chapters
[00:00:00] The Power of I Don't Know
[00:01:22] Welcome to EIR Live
[00:02:33] Peter's Early Career at Ford Motor Company
[00:04:53] Moving to Desoutter and Learning Business
[00:09:04] Strategic Quits and Career Lessons
[00:10:08] Landing at Rolls-Royce
[00:12:04] Breadth Over Height: The Career Philosophy
[00:15:10] Understanding How Things Work
[00:17:42] The EIR Pattern: Diverse Experiences
[00:19:47] The Most Powerful Three Words
[00:21:53] Managing University Technology Centres
[00:25:17] The UTC Business Model
[00:28:10] Academic vs Industrial Competition
[00:33:27] Discovering the EIR Role
[00:36:20] Kate's Suggestion: You're Going to Be One
[00:38:53] IP Experience and Patent Strategy
[00:45:49] IQ Explore and Market Validation
[00:50:33] The Sintam Spin-Out Success Story
[00:54:37] Why Two Years Isn't Enough
[00:56:42] Universities and Fear of Failure
[00:59:05] The Funding Timeline Problem
[01:02:48] What Keeps Peter Engaged
[01:04:25] Translation Masterclass: Biomaterials
[01:07:44] The Eye Drops Elevator Pitch
[01:10:11] Research Excellence Framework
[01:13:31] Where to Find Peter's Work
[01:14:51] Advice for Aspiring EIRs
[01:17:38] How the EIR Network Can Help
[01:20:12] Host Reflections on the Episode

Key Takeaways

1. Choose Breadth Over Height: Building horizontal expertise across functions creates unique pattern recognition abilities invaluable for EIR roles. "The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth."

2. Master Translation: The critical EIR skill is converting technical language into business value. Academics talk science; business talks benefits. Bridge that gap to accelerate commercialization.

3. Understand Academic Incentives: In academia, "the professor's competitor was the guy in the office next door," not rival universities. Understanding this changes everything about supporting faculty.

4. EIR Roles Need Three Years: Meaningful technology transfer impact requires sustained engagement. Most valuable outcomes emerge in year three, finishing initiatives started in year one.

5. "I Don't Know" is a Superpower: Combined with knowing how to find answers, intellectual honesty about knowledge gaps builds trust and enables effective problem-solving.

Notable Quotes

[00:00:19] Peter Winton:
 "The most powerful three words in the English language were I don't know. I had the courage to say, I don't know. But I could then go off somewhere and find out."

[00:12:32] Peter Winton:
 "The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. If you don't want to be in a rut and height's not your thing, then the only dimension left is breadth."

[00:28:55] Peter Winton:
 "In Rolls-Royce, our principal competitor was General Electric. What I came to realize was in academia, the professor's competitor was the guy in the office next door."

[00:58:41] Peter Winton:
 "95% of startups fail. So what makes you think universities can have a better track record? And what makes you afraid of actually matching the existing track record of the world?"

[01:07:10] Peter Winton:
 "One of the reasons that academics find it difficult to get things out there is that they talk science, and business talks benefits."

Organizations & Resources Mentioned

Royal Society Industry Fellowship - One of the world's oldest scientific academies offering the Industrial Fellowship scheme
https://royalsociety.org/grants/industry-fellowships/

University of Nottingham - Peter's host institution with 38 active spin-outs and only 3 failures since 2005
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/

Nottingham Technology Ventures - University company managing spin-outs
https://www.nottinghamtechventures.com/

Innovate UK - UK government innovation agency funding IQ Explore program
https://www.ukri.org/councils/innovate-uk/

IQ Explore Program - Three-month market validation before company formation
https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/programme/icure/

Research Excellence Framework - UK research impact assessment
https://www.ref.ac.uk/

 🔗 Connect with Peter Winton

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-winton-11b06128
University Spin-Outs: Nottingham Technology Ventures

🔗 Connect with EIR Live

▪️ Terrance Orr on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/terranceorr
▪️ Ilya Tabakh on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ilyatabakh
▪️ Website: eir.live
▪️ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/eirlive
▪️ YouTube: youtube.com/@EIRLive
▪️ X/Twitter: twitter.com/EIRLive_show
▪️ Suggest Guest

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