Meet the Team: Tariq Haddad, PhD

Meet the team! Our team is the driving force behind our success. That’s why we are introducing you to the bright minds who make it all happen. Next up is Innovation Consultant, Tariq Haddad, PhD.

“I enjoy working closely with the client”

I am very passionate about innovation and this role allows me to work together with experts in their field to advance their innovations forward. I enjoy working closely with the client and gaining new knowledge and understanding of their technology and innovation. Particularly, I enjoy the positioning of the technology/innovation within the project as this is very critical and key to warranting investment. Strong technology positioning gives a project the best chance with investors. One of the biggest challenges with fundraising is successfully pitching a technology and this is where our expertise comes in.

“Raising funding for our clients is very rewarding”

My proudest moment was successfully raising funding for multiple clients and making an impact to drive their new technologies forward. I led the project and had an influence on how best to direct and position the technology – that part I really enjoyed. To see that be successful is very rewarding. In a strategic assignment I performed a market analysis to guide a client on what strategic approach they should to take with their technology as they have IP but are unsure of the business and commercial side. This involved determining the market and financial perspectives of their technology, whether to form a spin-off or not, and what would be their go-to-market strategy to be the most successful… In turn this influences the investment of capital, time and resources, as well as the next steps in their career.

“We’re not necessarily just helping in drafting grant proposals”

Something that people should know about this role is that as consultants, we’re not necessarily just helping in drafting grant proposals. We are also tapping into our deep knowledge and expertise in assisting clients with technology positioning and the commercial side of innovation, i.e. the business-case, go-to-market strategy, becoming investor ready, overall strategy, and connecting clients together through our large network to create the strongest synergy for consortium projects.

The biggest thing is that academics come and want to raise funding, and while they are all experts on their respective technologies, they may not know how to best position it. A technology may likely be very interesting or innovative, but it may need to be adapted for a different focus or application to be the most successful – something that is not often considered. To do this we have brainstorms internally where we bring together experts and other consultants to discuss the technology.

The story and positioning is always a challenging aspect of making a successful proposal but we put a lot of effort to make this right. Technology commercialisation and the business case is also a crucial part of drafting proposals that is often overlooked.

Learn more about working at Catalyze