Marketing the Mousetrap: How to Drive Change

GREG ERMAN, CEO
Renalworks Medical Corp.

W hether you've built the best mousetrap in the world or found the cure for cancer, you still have a big job to do: getting the word out about your achievements. The effort involved in finding your marketing niche can dwarf the time, energy and money you've put into developing your products.

The WPI Venture Forum will host on April 11 two highly seasoned entrepreneurs who have faced the challenge of sharing with the world the story of their critically acclaimed technological advancements. Both the keynote speaker and case presenter have done the marketing due-diligence to insure a successful entrée into their respective niches.

Kicking off the evening will be serial entrepreneur Greg Erman, CEO and co-founder of Renalworks Medical Corp. Erman knows firsthand about marketing: from software and services in the tech sector to his current work in the med-tech sector. He will share his insights and caveats, focusing on marketing's critical role in driving change from research to commercialization.

Marketing success is based on change, according to Erman, and the best way to navigate change is to study how others have tried to do it. Effective marketing is key to success, achievement and motivation in business. Since marketing is not a pre-packaged panacea, it will take different forms depending on how your audience buys what it is that you're selling.

Erman's company is developing a revolutionary approach to kidney dialysis with a wearable "dialysis on a microchip" system. He previously founded MarketSoft Corp., a CRM software company, where he ultimately raised over $70 million in venture capital. Prior to that, he founded Waypoint Software Corp., a B2B e-commerce applications company specializing in product catalogues on the Web. He ultimately sold the company to Open Market Inc.