Several years ago, Professors Milton �Mitch� Smith and Robert E. Maleczka, Jr. decided to try to commercialize the borylation chemistry being developed in their Michigan State laboratories. With this goal in mind, they paid the $25 fee to register an LLC in Michigan and then realized they had no idea what to do next. But acting on the advice of entrepreneurial colleagues, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and others, the duo dug deeper into personal bank accounts, licensed the IP, hired & fired consultants, partnered with a CEO, wrote a business plan, sought investors, and ultimately staffed, equipped, and in 2007 launched BoroPharm - a Michigan-based company dedicated to the preparation and commercialization of novel building blocks for organic syntheses. The experiences, mistakes, good fortune, bad luck, costs and opportunities encountered during BoroPharm's founding and six years of operation will be shared by co-founder Robert E. Maleczka, Jr.

Founding BoroPharm: A naive academic's encounters with cigarettes, angels, and hastelloy tanks

246th National Meeting (2013)

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