Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

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. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love. Practice being a good communicator.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

Despite some recent advances, there are still some cultures which have less regard for patents and other intellectual property. Leading edge technology software and manufacturing require constant course corrections and iterative restarts. Don’t count on contracts and non-disclosure agreements to save you.

Software Review 114

Software Review Technical Review Outsource Development Outsource 114

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 22, 2018

Recognizing the tens of billions of dollars that the Southern Californian region leaves on the table, because it hasn’t taken its rightful place in the American technology industry, a new group called the Alliance for Southern California Innovation has just released a report to analyze how SoCal can work to assume its pole position.

Southern California 224

Southern California Dollar Shave Club SoCal Develop 224

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Registered patents and other intellectual property. Since your product or technology may still be in the early stages of development, the investor in actually investing in you, and your previous achievements, as much as your current startup.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

socalTECH

APRIL 30, 2010

Last week, San Diego-based Confident Technologies (www.confidenttechnologies.com) announced that it had acquired the assets of Vidoop, and created a company focused on security and authentication of users. What does Confident Technologies do? The Confident authentication suite of software, which also includes out of band technology.

Technology 124

Technology Web Sites Orange County 124

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. Since your product or technology may still be in the early stages of development, the investor in actually investing in you, and your previous achievements, as much as your current startup.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

It’s true the some VCs have started writing so many checks that they resemble stock pickers but the majority of us still have less than 10 board seats at any time and tend to go pretty deep so the result is that we care deeply about where we commit our time. The practical uses for uBeam technology is limitless. Was it safe?

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

For example, “I just patented a new cell-phone technology that will double battery life for half the cost. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks. Use concrete terms to quantify value and pain.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

Despite some recent advances, there are still some cultures which have less regard for patents and other intellectual property. Leading edge technology software and manufacturing require constant course corrections and iterative restarts. Don’t count on contracts and non-disclosure agreements to save you.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Some dreams sound great, but may not yet be viable or proven with today’s technology. Writing down key parameters will force you solidify the specifics, and mentally commit to them. Any startup with no patents, trade secrets, or other secret sauce is very high risk today.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

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. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love. Practice being a good communicator.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Too Techie - Tone down emphasis on the technology underlying your venture; an interested investor will perform tech diligence at the appropriate time. Patents and Trademarks. Who do I write the check to and where do I send it? No VC Fit - Match your venture with appropriate funding source. Distribution and Sales. Competition.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

"The best way to prepare [to be a programmer] is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. Unless your venture is focused on researching potential scientific breakthroughs, it is likely that your technology can be easily copied and your patents circumvented. " [Tweet this quote].

Tips 275

Tips Startup IP Santa Barbara 275

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

The press around the raise & company was fantastic and the promise of their technology – wireless charging that works as easily as WiFi – would positively affect many of our lives. We checked patents. What about competing patents. “A lie travels around the globe while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

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. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love. Practice being a good communicator.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

When Nivi published the series he titled it “the top 10 things I look for before I write a check.&# As a result I felt compelled to add this final attribute because it matters a lot to me. We were super excited by their offering – they had patented technology in a field that we believe will continue to grow massively.

Technical Review 284

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Funding 284

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 12, 2015

Most men in the 1940's and 50's did not know how to use a keyboard and thus could not write code. At an early age, many women are subtly discouraged from participating in science and technology, by unconscious cues sent by parents, teachers and their peers. It’s easy to diagnose the gender problem by pointing fingers.

Company 100

Company Companies Santa Barbara Education 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2013

Here are some key ones they look for: Talks and writes well. Convincingly presents a patent, trademark, or other “secret sauce” that can create equity value, not just current cash flow for the owners. The technology or product may be at an embryonic stage. Values intellectual property.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Course Patents 109

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. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love. Practice being a good communicator.

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2012

Here are some key ones they look for: Talks and writes well. Convincingly presents a patent, trademark, or other “secret sauce” that can create equity value, not just current cash flow for the owners. The technology or product may be at an embryonic stage. Values intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Technical Review Course Patents 117

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. Since your product or technology may still be in the early stages of development, the investor in actually investing in you, and your previous achievements, as much as your current startup.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Angel Social Media Patents 107

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. And covered we did.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2016

Dean Kamen, while still struggling with the Segway Human Transporter, holds 440 other device patents. Entrepreneur examples include Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Google, who turned a new search technology into a tool that most of us couldn’t live without. Get in the habit of asking questions but do not expect easy answers.

Examples 76

Examples Startup Coach Patents 76

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2014

Despite some recent advances, there are still some cultures which have less regard for patents and other intellectual property. Leading edge technology software and manufacturing require constant course corrections and iterative restarts. Dont count on contracts and non-disclosure agreements to save you.

Outsource Development 95

Outsource Development Outsource Offshore Software Review 95

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Let me start with the obvious baseline that most people probably know instinctively: Los Angeles is the 3rd largest technology startup ecosystem in the US. billion in venture capital to LA’s technology startups and 2014 will shatter that figure. When you begin to peel back the onion some surprising data presents itself.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

Steve Jillings has a long track record of running successful startups in Southern California, ranging from such companies as FrontBridge Technologies (sold to Microsoft in 2005 for over $200M) and Vantage Media (acquired in 2007). In 2011, we had two of our patents approved.

Marina Del Rey 238

Marina Del Rey Startup IP Examples 238

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2010

Here are some key ones they look for: Talks and writes well. Convincingly presents a patent, trademark, or other “secret sauce” that can create equity value, not just current cash flow for the owners. The technology or product may be at an embryonic stage. Values intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Angel Technical Review Course 96

socalTECH

JUNE 23, 2011

One of the firms which has been active in that area is Los Angeles-based CauseCast (www.causecast.com), run by Ryan Scott , who talked us about the company's relationship with the Huffington Post, its new efforts to provide its technology to companies interested in corporate social responsibility, and other initiatives.

Causecast 222

Causecast Startup Content Education 222

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2013

Dean Kamen, while still struggling with the Segway Human Transporter, holds 440 other device patents. Entrepreneur examples include Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Google, who turned a new search technology into a tool that most of us couldn’t live without. Get in the habit of asking questions but do not expect easy answers.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Examples Ideas 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2016

Despite some recent advances, there are still some cultures which have less regard for patents and other intellectual property. Leading edge technology software and manufacturing require constant course corrections and iterative restarts. Don’t count on contracts and non-disclosure agreements to save you.

Outsource Development 53

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 53

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. Solution product & technology. Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Opportunity sizing.

Slides 94

Slides Competition Sample Sales 94

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. Just because you passionately believe that your technology is great, and everyone needs it, doesn’t mean that everyone will buy it. Idea has limited business opportunity. No intellectual property.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Resource 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2012

Dean Kamen, while still struggling with the Segway Human Transporter, holds 440 other device patents. Entrepreneur examples include Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Google, who turned a new search technology into a tool that most of us couldn’t live without. Get in the habit of asking questions but do not expect easy answers.

Startup 104

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Ideas 104

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

We''ve also had a pretty wide range of check writing in terms of amount. Anyone can talk a good game, and put together a proforma that looks great, and there are lots of great looking ideas, and people can even all have filed a provisional patent. We''re really looking for that first and foremost. Why not Los Angeles?

Seed Funding 220

Seed Funding Santa Monica Funding Startup 220

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. Just because you passionately believe that your technology is great, and everyone needs it, doesn’t mean that everyone will buy it. Idea has limited business opportunity. No intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Statistics 109

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

We were looking at it, and saw that if we could take all these off-the-shelf sensors, and put it all together, and write some code, and make a user interface, it''s basically done. Mann had long sold the company and patents, but one of their providers which had been installing them surgically, and had started installing parts from China.

Startup 262

Startup Competition Software Review UCLA 262

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 11, 2012

The multi-tiered platform allows for money to be transferred between Facebook friends, the ability to click and purchase any item that you see on Facebook and through the published API’s, developers can integrate and write their own applications on top of the ZunguZ platform. Why the name? So we bring business to banks.

Software Review 92

Software Review Social Network Platform Technical Review 92