Commercialise research with lessons from the sporting playbook

In today’s market, securing investment for your spin-out company can sometimes feel like a game of luck. But in reality, it’s about having a clear way of thinking and sticking to it. 

A useful way to look at investment is like sport. The best teams don’t just get lucky, they consistently find an edge by spotting potential early, understanding how the game is evolving and acting before others do.

• What you need to know about securing investment for your spin out
• From lab to market – part 1: finding investment
• Plan your route from research to market

Here, I’ll explain how, like a well-run sports team, successful investors follow a repeatable system – with insights for those considering commercialising their research on how they can be attractive to potential investors. 

Investors read the game, not just the player

Strong sports teams don’t judge players in isolation. They assess how the game itself is changing and how individuals fit within that shifting environment. Successful investors adopt a similar mindset.

As such, those seeking quality investment need to demonstrate how their work sits in the wider landscape and market demand. 

Investors want to back businesses that know where the market is heading and are on the front foot of this. Showing a deep understanding of industry fundamentals and how your research or product aligns with this is one of the most reliable ways to demonstrate long-term value.

Keep your eyes on the money

In sport, transfer spending often signals where teams think the game is going. Markets behave similarly – and investors will have a watching eye on this. 

The steady rise in investment into logistics and warehousing over the past decade closely mirrored the growth of e-commerce. As companies like Amazon expanded fulfilment networks at scale, capital followed into distribution hubs, automation and last-mile delivery infrastructure. Investors who watched where money was being committed, rather than where attention was focused, could see the market’s direction before it became universally accepted.

Successful investors, like successful teams, tend to be proactive rather than reactive, so if researchers can demonstrate strong market potential of their work, and early indicators of growth, they’re more likely to secure investment. 

Find the player others overlooked

Every successful team has a story about a player who was previously undervalued or written off, only to thrive in the right system later on. In investment, similar opportunities often arise when strong businesses find themselves navigating short-term challenges.

Rolls-Royce during its early 2020s restructuring is one example often cited in this context. The business faced significant pressure, particularly in civil aerospace, but retained deep engineering capability and long-term service contracts. Some investors viewed this as a recovery opportunity, backing the idea that the underlying strengths would outlast the downturn. Not all agreed, which is precisely the point.

Opportunity often sits in the space where opinion is divided, and some investors are willing to separate temporary context from long-term capability. As a result, short-term market downturn doesn’t necessarily mean potential investment is off the table, as long as researchers can robustly demonstrate long-term potential. 

Investors use data, but trust experience 

Modern sport relies heavily on data, but no elite team ignores on-the-ground insight. We hear this constantly in sports coverage, that experience is as important as data in judging talent. This contextual knowledge still matters – and investment decisions benefit from the same balance.

For example, headline financials in construction may have appeared stable in the period following the Covid-19 pandemic, but many operators were already seeing sharp increases in material and labour costs. Those with strong supplier relationships and market visibility could respond early, adjusting pricing or exposure, while others were caught reacting later.

Researchers can use tools like AI to analyse data and model risk, but those that win on the investment front are those that show how they’re responding to these insights using their contextual understanding or sector experience.

Winning the game

Like managing a well-run sports team, when it comes to securing investment, success comes from playing into a repeatable system, understanding the game, showcasing potential and managing risk carefully. 

In essence, know your market, pay attention to what’s changing and demonstrate how your business is responding, even when the market is temporarily out of favour. That’s as true in business as it is on the pitch.

Paul Sailsbury is head of the School of Business Management and Creativity at Arden University.

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