located in Silicon Valley which helps professors, researchers, staff, graduate students or undergraduates who wish to start commercial ventures without leaving their present jobs. C2C helps these researchers (who usually haven't started a company before) to build their ideas and prototypes into successful businesses.

C2C gets involved with its ventures far earlier than other venture firms. Often there isn't even a business plan or entrepreneurial team - just a promising technology and a desire to do something useful with it.

For faculty, researchers and staff, starting companies is an often random process of seeking advice and figuring out whom they can trust. As a trusted partner of their institution, C2C brings specific expertise in the process of venture formation “from concept to company.”

C2C looks for opportunities to help professors, staff, post-docs or graduate students who don't want to leave a full-time academic position but who hope to found a venture-backed company based on their research. C2C helps these researchers to evaluate their inventions as the basis of a scalable business:

	C2C analyzes relevant technologies in the labs and in the marketplace
	Uncovers potential customer partners
	Identifies qualified advisors, directors and management team members

Once the principal researchers and C2C determine to move forward:

	C2C arranges selective meetings with qualified entrepreneurs and potential investors
	Evaluates related business opportunities and performs a competitive analysis
	Supervises the organization of the company and the licensing of the inventions from the university
	Develops and refines the product plan
	Prepares the presentation and raises initial financing
	Attracts qualified management and outside directors

C2C's principals use their extensive business and technical expertise and venture capital contacts to help get the company defined, started and funded. It usually is a very time intensive and lengthy process, often taking thousands of hours of C2C's time. Consequently C2C can only take on a small number of projects at a time. As a co-founder, C2C's compensation is a common stock equity position in its companies. C2C does not receive any cash compensation. C2C also usually participates in the initial seed financing. C2C stays actively involved with the companies it co-founds after they are financed. C2C focuses on leading universities and research institutions in the Western U.S. Universities with which C2C has worked include Stanford, Caltech and UCLA.