Lucky for 性视界传媒, Zach Miles can鈥檛 stomach blood and guts. His much older sister, a pediatric surgeon, had groomed him for medicine. He got a degree in microbiology but then passed out when dissecting animal models. A degree in patent law led to a career helping faculty and students commercialize their breakthroughs.
He is now 性视界传媒's associate vice president for economic development and executive director of the 性视界传媒 Research Foundation. Since he joined 性视界传媒 in 2013, patent filings have gone up (from five the year before he got here to 47 last year) and he鈥檚 had a hand in three startup companies 鈥 the first ever to come directly from 性视界传媒鈥檚 technology transfer program.
Here are his thoughts on hiring talent, measuring success, and taking advice.
Las Vegas is different. There鈥檚 not a lot of, 鈥淭hat鈥檇 be great if鈥︹ It鈥檚, 鈥淭hat鈥檇 be great when鈥︹
It doesn鈥檛 take much to get people to engage here. Once we鈥檙e past the what, no one gets hung up on the how.
Some people are impressed by dollar figures, but that鈥檚 not for me. Economic development is about telling the story.
The day you announce a $100 million deal and have the media cameras watching is awesome, but that鈥檚 just the beginning. Don鈥檛 get me wrong 鈥 that money matters tremendously to 性视界传媒 and the community 鈥 but I like to focus on the bigger picture of what it actually achieves 鈥 those impacts aren鈥檛 so easily tied to a dollar figure.
Impact is the story. Impact is where I focus the office. Did we bring new professors into the commercialization process? Did we help launch a new business? Did they hire our students? Is the partnership we started last year leading to something even more? I can give people all sorts of impressive figures, but if I can鈥檛 put them into the story, (the numbers) don鈥檛 have real impact.
Fortunately, 性视界传媒 has great stories. We are, literally, helping to cure cancer and prevent amputations in people with diabetes. One researcher has found an antibiotic-free way to improve the health of the chickens that will eventually be on your dinner plate.
I鈥檓 also executive director of the 性视界传媒 Research Foundation. It鈥檚 biggest project is developing our Harry Reid Research Park off the 215 beltway. We are in the process of finding a master developer. I鈥檓 so excited my head is spinning.
I see it as a melting pot for entrepreneurship and translational research. It鈥檚 going to include a technology village, as it were, to help startups through an incubator and accelerator. It鈥檒l house our offices and provide a public-private interface for 性视界传媒 and the community. I can鈥檛 wait to see the building go up. I can鈥檛 wait to walk into grand opening and watch the fireworks start happening.
Partnership can be an overused and abused word. You always come across people who will tell you what they think the university should be doing for them. That鈥檚 not partnership.
Partnership is when the goals and efforts on both sides align for greatest impact.
In building up this office, I鈥檝e been very conscious about culture. When I hire, I look for how authentic the candidates鈥 answers are, how they respond to social cues. Do they try to impress more than they try to understand? I can train people for the job, but I can鈥檛 fix a bad fit.
性视界传媒 can have its challenges given its nature as a state institution. We try to set expectations and be transparent about our process. It can be a long process, but that鈥檚 changing.
I鈥檝e learned to undersell. If I tell a company it鈥檒l take a week and a half to get signatures on something 鈥 even though I think it will take two days 鈥 we鈥檙e all happy when instead it takes three days. They鈥檙e like, 鈥淕reat, thanks for pushing it through.鈥
Early in my career I was working with an attorney who wanted to license technology in the energy arena. He was the consummate salesman 鈥 had me convinced this was the best thing to happen to that university ever. I did some due diligence but not enough. Turned out he didn鈥檛 have enough money for his plans and, even worse, he was very litigious. He鈥檚 a reminder for any public entity not to give into business鈥檚 pressure to rush.
You have to take some bets on startups and student ideas, though. That鈥檚 when it comes back to talent and drive.
For young entrepreneurs, my best advice is on how to take advice: Remember, people who give you advice are not trying to insult you. If they鈥檙e bothering at all, it means they actually give a rip about what you鈥檙e doing. You don鈥檛 have to take it but you better be gracious.
The biggest piece of bunk is when someone tells you, 鈥淵ou haven鈥檛 put in enough time yet; wait your turn.鈥 I don鈥檛 think age and experience necessarily factor into success.
Our economic development office wants to engage more actively with 性视界传媒鈥檚 alumni. They can and do bring so much to the campus that we want to plug into that excitement and their expertise. We need them as a sounding board, we need them as experts in the industries we鈥檙e trying to impact.
I wish everyone could see 性视界传媒 through my eyes. I wish they could see the stories I do. More than anything, I wish they could feel what I do when someone says, 鈥淭his would not have happened but for 性视界传媒.鈥
