A research programme aims to bridge the gap between 'R' and 'D' to build mission-driven, science-rich startups, writes Rachel Care

Carey, Rachel

English

LSE Research Online

Connecting	social	science	and	startups	to	tackleimportant	problemsLast	year,	more	than	45,000	tech	startups	were	launched	across	the	UK.	The	world	of	startups	has,	over	the	lastdecade,	attracted	an	extraordinary	amount	of	talent	and	resources.	Today’s	startups	are	increasingly	focused	ontackling	major	social	and	environmental	challenges	—	from	food	waste,	to	mental	ill	health,	to	unemployment.	Manyaspiring	entrepreneurs	are	seeing	ventures	as	a	way	to	achieve	impact	on	issues	they	care	about,	as	well	assecure	commercial	returns.The	problems	being	tackled	by	these	mission-driven	ventures	are	not	new.	For	most	of	them,	there	are	decades	ofrelevant	research	that	can	help	us	to	understand	their	causes,	consequences,	and	potential	solutions.	This	isparticularly	the	case	for	the	social	and	behavioural	sciences,	which	can	inform	our	understanding	of	people’sthoughts,	feelings	and	behaviours.	For	example,	founders	building	a	new	digital	health	product	(e.g.	focused	on	adomain	like	physical	activity,	diet,	or	sleep)	should	be	guided	by	an	existing	body	of	knowledge	about	theintervention	approaches	that	are	most	likely	to	lead	to	sustained	change.Infusing	new	ventures	with	the	rigour	and	ethics	of	good	quality	social	science,	without	detracting	from	theircreativity	and	pace,	can	maximise	their	potential	to	meet	people’s	needs	in	meaningful	and	measurable	ways.And	this	is	not	a	one-way	street.	New	startups	are	essentially	a	series	of	experiments,	and	provide	a	real-worldtestbed	for	rapid	experimentation	—	about	not	just	‘what	works’	but	also	‘what	sticks’.	As	they	progress,	ventures’insights,	failures,	challenges,	pivots	and	successes	provide	a	valuable	trail	of	breadcrumbs.	This	learning,	ifsynthesised	and	shared,	could	usefully	contribute	to	scientific	knowledge.	A	number	of	well-known	ventures	haveembraced	this	mission-driven,	science-rich	approach	(e.g.	Omada	and	Sleepio)	—	collaborating	with	academicsand	publishing	their	findings.Connecting	‘R’	with	‘D’The	value	of	connecting	social	science	and	business	is	well	recognised.	It	is	evidenced,	for	example,	by	the	level	ofdemand	from	big	tech	companies,	who	are	among	the	largest	recruiters	of	social	science	PhDs,	and	whoseproducts	and	business	models	have	been	heavily	influenced	by	resident	economists,	anthropologists	andbehavioural	scientists.	Uber,	Amazon,	Google,	Facebook,	and	other	tech	giants,	have	embraced	a	labs-basedapproach	(e.g.	see	here)	to	optimising	product	development	and	customer	experience.	Some	have	in-houseresearch	teams	that	rival	the	world’s	best	university	research	groups,	attracting	talented	researchers	with	the	kindof	data,	pace,	and	freedom	to	experiment	that	is	often	lacking	in	academia.LSE Business Review: Connecting social science and startups to tackle important problems Page 1 of 4		Date originally posted: 2020-07-27Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2020/07/27/connecting-social-science-and-startups-to-tackle-important-problems/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/The	argument	that	successful	ventures	are	built	on	a	systematic	understanding	of	human	behaviour,	afforded	bythe	social	sciences,	no	longer	needs	to	be	won.	But	we	still	have	a	long	way	to	go	in	connecting	these	two	worldstogether.Social	science	research	—	even	when	it	has	clear	and	immediate	practical	implications	—	is	often	not	translatedinto	digestible	recommendations	that	can	be	drawn	upon	by	those	developing	new	products	and	services.	On	theother	hand,	if	you’re	a	founder	wanting	to	maximise	the	scientific	rigour	and	output	of	your	venture,	there	is	noblueprint	or	roadmap	for	what	‘good’	looks	like.	What	does	it	mean	for	a	venture	to	be	evidence-based?	How	shouldventures	evaluate	their	impact	in	the	early	stages,	when	their	product	is	still	changing	rapidly?	And	how	should	theygo	about	communicating	scientific	unknowns	when	‘hype’	is	so	deeply	woven	into	the	fabric	of	the	startup	world?Research	and	innovation	at	ZincAfter	a	postdoc	at	UCL,	I	stepped	away	from	the	well-worn	academic	career	path.	My	love	for	research	had	beenstrengthened	during	my	time	in	UCL’s	Centre	for	Behaviour	Change,	but	I	felt	disillusioned	by	the	definition	of‘impact’,	and	the	culture	surrounding	it,	that	seemed	core	to	a	successful	academic	career.	I	spent	a	year	working	inBupa’s	new	behavioural	science	team,	leading	a	programme	of	collaboration	with	UCL,	before	joining	Zinc’s	earlyteam	in	2017.Zinc’s	mission	is	to	build	and	scale	a	new	way	to	tackle	important	societal	problems.	We	run	a	venture-builderprogramme	where	50	entrepreneurs	come	together	in	London,	full-time,	with	the	aim	of	creating	new,	mission-driven	businesses	from	scratch.	We	are	also	soon	to	launch	a	new	Academy	programme,	for	those	who	want	tohave	impact	through,	or	alongside,	their	existing	roles.	Each	of	our	programmes	is	centred	on	a	singular	‘mission’—	our	most	recent	one,	for	example,	focused	on	improving	the	quality	of	later	life.My	role	at	Zinc	has	been	twofold:	(a)	to	ground	Zinc	ventures	in	a	scientific	approach	to	understanding	problemsand	developing,	testing	and	evaluating	solutions,	and	(b)	to	maximise	opportunities	for	our	ventures	to	create	andshare	new	research.	The	programme	of	R&D	that	I	lead	reflects	Zinc’s	commitment	to	maximising	the	impact	of	thesocial	sciences,	and	bridging	the	gap	with	academia.	Zinc’s	main	financial	backer	to	date	has	been	the	LondonSchool	of	Economics,	and	we	are	also	part	of	the	LSE-led	ASPECT	consortium.For	a	social	scientist,	Zinc’s	approach	to	venture-building	is	interesting	for	a	number	of	reasons:	Being	mission-ledallows	us	to	be	properly	interdisciplinary,	combining	resources	that	would	otherwise	sit	in	silos	(researchers	andentrepreneurs,	technologists	and	social	scientists,	venture	capital	and	research	funding);	building	new	venturesfrom	scratch	allows	us	to	shape	the	earliest	stages	of	the	journey,	including	defining	the	right	problem;	and,	sinceour	ventures	are	testing	new	solutions	in	applied	ways	from	an	early	stage,	they	provide	an	opportunity	to	engagewith	users	as	co-creators,	makers	and	evaluators	—	moving	beyond	traditional	data	collection	and	researchparticipation.What	we’ve	done	so	farOur	in-house	R&D	team,	funded	by	grants	from	ASPECT	and	the	Wellcome	Trust’s	Public	Engagement	Scheme,have	backgrounds	in	behavioural	science,	psychology	/	cognitive	neuroscience,	sociology	/	gerontology,	and	datascience.	We	support	founders	to	identify	opportunities	from	existing	research,	develop	lines	of	enquiry,	undertakerapid	problem-led	reviews	of	research,	design	and	test	new	products	and	services,	work	closely	with	users	to	co-create	solutions,	and	identify	gaps	that	need	to	be	targeted	by	researchers,	innovators	and/or	funders.Over	the	last	three	years,	Zinc	has	supported	150	founders	and	created	35	ventures,	mobilised	a	community	of>300	expert	‘Visiting	Fellows’,	and	facilitated	a	range	of	new	collaborative	academic	partnerships.Our	ventures	cover	a	diverse	range	of	problem	areas,	business	models,	sectors,	technologies	and	scientificdisciplines.	They	include,	for	example:Wakey!,	a	breakfast	show	on	your	phone,	designed	to	make	mental	health	content	more	accessible	andengaging	—	delivered	by	a	former	Love	Island	contestant	and	a	comedy	drag	queen	and	designed	by	a	teamof	psychological	scientists	and	creatives.Tandem,	a	transport	solution	for	small	towns	and	cities,	who	have	partnered	with	academics	at	the	Universityof	Aberdeen	and	Glasgow	to	understand	their	users’	needs.LSE Business Review: Connecting social science and startups to tackle important problems Page 2 of 4		Date originally posted: 2020-07-27Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2020/07/27/connecting-social-science-and-startups-to-tackle-important-problems/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/Ferly,	a	digital	platform	that	aims	to	transform	women’s	relationship	with	sex,	co-founded	by	a	social	scientistand	built	on	a	deep	understanding	of	the	biology	and	psychology	of	sexual	wellbeing.Scaling	upZinc	is	about	to	enter	a	new	growth	phase.	Over	the	next	4	years,	we	will	run	7	venture-builder	programmes,working	with	500	founders	to	build	~200	new	ventures,	and	backing	100.	Our	programmes	will	focus	on	fourmissions:	improving	mental	and	emotional	health;	unlocking	opportunities	in	areas	hard	hit	by	automation	andglobalisation;	improving	the	quality	of	later	life;	and	reducing	the	harm	people	do	to	the	environment.This	next	phase	provides	a	unique	platform	to	scale-up,	in	parallel,	our	research	and	innovation	activities.	Theseinclude:Working	closely	with	founders	to	build	and	scale	science-rich	ventures,	to	ground	them	in	a	robust	evidencebase	and	maximise	their	potential	to	generate	new	empirical	knowledge;Building	a	sustainable	research	funding	strategy	for	Zinc	and	our	ventures	to	attract,	incentivise	andresource	good	quality	research	and	researchers;Scaling	up,	and	sharing,	our	approach	to	user	research	and	public	engagement,	to	bring	users	alongsidefounders	as	co-creators	and	makers;Attracting	postdoc	researchers	to	work	with	Zinc	and	our	ventures,	through	our	Research	FellowshipProgramme,	to	provide	opportunities	for	early	career	researchers	to	do	research	differently;Facilitating	collaborations	between	ventures	and	university	partners,	to	minimise	the	misaligned	incentivesand	institutional	bureaucracy	that	often	hinder	partnerships;Continuing	to	develop	our	methodology	for	social	science	innovation,	to	provide	a	roadmap	for	founderssimilar	to	the	IDEO	Design	Guide;Joining	up	with	complementary	initiatives	around	the	world,	including	working	closely	with	partners	in	theUS	and	Asia,	to	learn	from	good	practice	internationally;Disseminating	our	learning	through	an	open	science	approach	to	knowledge	exchange	and	publicengagement,	to	ensure	that	we	have	impact	beyond	our	immediate	networks.Having	piloted	each	of	these	activities	over	the	last	few	years,	I	think	they	represent	a	set	of	ingredients	that,	ifscaled,	could	lead	to	vibrant	new	pathways	to	impact	for	the	social	sciences.UKRI	Future	Leaders	FellowshipScaling	up	our	R&D	activities	will	now	be	possible	with	the	support	of	a	4-year,	£1.2m	Future	Leaders	Fellowship,which	I’m	fortunate	to	have	received	from	UK	Research	and	Innovation	(UKRI).	Zinc	will	be	the	host	institution	forthis	fellowship,	with	the	LSE	as	a	project	partner.	The	goal	of	my	fellowship	is	to	create,	scale	and	share	a	newapproach	to	social	science-based	innovation:	one	that	amplifies	the	visibility	and	impact	of	research,	creates	a	moresystematic	approach	to	embedding	that	research	in	commercial	products	and	services,	and	maximises	the	potentialfor	new	knowledge	generation	from	these	ventures.For	this	to	succeed,	it	will	require	a	significant	cultural	shift	—	not	just	from	founders,	but	also	from	researchers	andfunders.In	particular,	it	will	require	us	to:1.	 Direct	founders’	energy	towards	neglected,	complex	and	thorny	problems,	moving	beyond	low-hanging	fruit;2.	 Make	existing,	published	research	and	data	more	accessible	and	digestible,	in	order	to	accelerate	founders’learning	and	minimise	the	number	of	unnecessary	new	surveys	and	experiments;3.	 Empower	users	to	play	a	meaningful	role	in	shaping	new	solutions,	moving	beyond	research	participation	toproper	co-creation;4.	 Reduce	the	gap	between	what’s	popular,	and	what’s	effective,	by	making	the	evidence	upon	which	productsare	grounded	more	accessible	to	users,	and	by	giving	investors	the	right	tools	to	sieve	out	the	snake	oil;5.	 Develop	tailored	methods	of	evaluation	for	new	ventures,	moving	away	from	traditional	RCTs	to	more	rapidresearch	designs,	and	embracing	citizen	science	approaches;6.	 Incentivise	and	motivate	ventures	to	share	their	learning,	and	create	better	platforms	for	dissemination,	tomaximise	the	efficiency	with	which	we	accumulate	knowledge.LSE Business Review: Connecting social science and startups to tackle important problems Page 3 of 4		Date originally posted: 2020-07-27Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2020/07/27/connecting-social-science-and-startups-to-tackle-important-problems/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/None	of	this	will	happen	overnight.	But	if	we	can	make	progress	in	these	areas,	we	will	be	closer	to	a	more	efficientand	effective	system	for	tackling	important	problems,	and	de-siloing	the	knowledge	and	skills	that	can	work	towardssolving	them.Author’s	note:	If	you’re	interested	in	getting	involved,	you’ll	find	job	openings,	research	collaboration	opportunities,and	more	here.♣♣♣Notes:This	blog	post	appeared	originally	on	Medium.The	post	expresses	the	views	of	its	author(s),	not	the	position	of	LSE	Business	Review	or	the	London	Schoolof	Economics.Featured	image	by	Matias	Malka	on	UnsplashWhen	you	leave	a	comment,	you’re	agreeing	to	our	Comment	PolicyRachel	Carey	is	the	chief	scientist	at	Zinc.	She	is	an	associate	consultant	for	UCL’s	Centre	forBehaviour	Change	and	a	former	senior	behaviour	change	research	advisor	at	Bupa.	Rachel	has	aPhD	in	psychology,	and	has	worked	across	a	range	of	settings	embedding	social	science	research	intech-enabled	businesses.				LSE Business Review: Connecting social science and startups to tackle important problems Page 4 of 4		Date originally posted: 2020-07-27Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2020/07/27/connecting-social-science-and-startups-to-tackle-important-problems/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/

Connecting social science and startups to tackle important problems

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Connecting social science and startups to tackle important problems

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