There is, acknowledges Lou Walcer, director of the Kevin M. McGovern Family Center for Venture Development in the Life Sciences at Ithaca, NY's Cornell University, "a romance associated with the start-up life." University researchers often fantasize about coming up with the next Google, he explains - but therein also lies the dark downside of start-ups. "For every Google, there are 10,000 non- Googles, and some of them involve loss of your house, or loss of your spouse or loss of your academic career," Walcer says. Many of those disaster stories could be avoided if everyone involved in technology transfer - including inventors and tech transfer professionals - paid more attention to the things they shouldn't do in launching a start-up.
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