Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

As I’ve written about recently, at Upfront Ventures we started talking a couple of years ago about wanting to fund stuff with more meaning. I think this is a combination of being realists as venture capitalists that outsized returns in our funds must come from taking on bigger, more impactful projects that can move markets.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Registered patents and other intellectual property. From an investor perspective, understanding and acting early to establish a sustainable competitive advantage, and barrier to entry, is the best assurance of a financial return.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

No VC Fit - Match your venture with appropriate funding source. Patents and Trademarks. Competition. How much money are you looking for, what will you do with it and what other funding sources (if any) do you already have secured? Who do I write the check to and where do I send it? Distribution and Sales.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

A number of teams have recently been looking to turn that vision into reality, as a result of the Qualcomm Tricorder Prize , a $10M competition being run by the X Prize Foundation to create a real life Tricorder. That''s essentially how the Tricoder competition was formed--it''s time for this to happen. Mann implantable device area.

Startup 262

Startup Competition Software Review UCLA 262

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. You have no shelf life, so you can’t make money while you sleep. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. You have no shelf life, so you can’t make money while you sleep. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. You have no shelf life, so you can’t make money while you sleep. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Registered patents and other intellectual property. From an investor perspective, understanding and acting early to establish a sustainable competitive advantage, and barrier to entry, is the best assurance of a financial return.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Angel Social Media Patents 107

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

Most advisors will tell you to write the business plan first (20-30 pages), then distill the key points into a set of Microsoft PowerPoint slides for standup presentations to potential investors. Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Competition and sustainable advantage. Funding requirements and use of funds.

Slides 94

Slides Competition Sample Sales 94

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had seen many cycles and decided that since I was going to do it all over again I should write about it. I decided to write about my experience and to be blunt. It became a huge kerfuffle with many VC partners writing to thank me for the post, which exposed those that gave their industry a bad name. Tempus Fugit.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

The discipline of writing down a plan is the best way to make sure you actually understand how to transform your idea into a business. If you expect to seek investors, or you expect to have a sustainable competitive advantage against sleeping giants, you need to register all your patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets early.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Resource 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2012

The discipline of writing down a plan is the best way to make sure you actually understand how to transform your idea into a business. If you expect to seek investors, or you expect to have a sustainable competitive advantage against sleeping giants, you need to register all your patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets early.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Statistics 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Every investor expects to see some traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 3, 2015

I often write about the best strategies for startup fundraising or how to manage startup financing and optimize for growth. Whether it’s something as extensive as filing patents, more simple trademark registrations, and or putting appropriate documentation in place, don’t ignore this and don’t rely on boilerplate online templates.

Startup 40

Startup Outsource Development IP Outsource 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2010

Have you patented it? How will the inevitable changes in markets, consumer behaviors, and competitive offerings affect outcomes? When you sit down to start working on a business plan, grab four blank sheets of paper and write the words Opportunity, Solution, Execution, and Outcomes across the top. Now, start brainstorming.

Startup 91

Startup Oracle Entrepreneur Ideas 91

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

It was a pleasure to write them myself. And when I say this I don’t mean they funded billion dollar companies – they literally created them. We talked about patents. I brought up the fact that I find many larger companies abusing the patent system to slow down smaller competitors which is actually anti competitive.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

A business plan is the outward facing definition of the business you hope to drive with your hardware solution, with a hardware overview in the intro to highlight customer value and competitiveness. For example, “We just patented a new battery technology that will cut your smartphone charge time and cost in half.” and trademarks.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

Venture Capital Funding 7. Prior to raising $16M+ in funding from top-tier venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital, Globespan Capital and Evercore Ventures, StrongMail was self-funded and cash-flow positive. of the product, file patents, hire a small sales team and launch a marketing program to take StrongMail to market.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40