Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

Angel investors are still the lifeblood of early-stage startups, despite the surge of activity in crowdfunding and an increasing early interest from venture capitalists. According to the Angel Capital Association , at least 300,000 people have made angel investments in the last two years, totaling $24 billion in the U.S.

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Angel Startup Technical Review Social Media 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2014

Don’t bash the competition. Every investor knows how vulnerable a new startup is to competitors, so investors always ask about your sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. That says you are competitive today, have a real barrier to entry, and the potential to remain ahead of the competition for a long time.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Competition Patents Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

Most universities have a file of patents from project work that they are willing to license to any entrepreneur for business commercialization, with little or no cost up front. These often lead to angel investors and venture capital investments later, or connections to local company venture funds for selected focus and technology areas.

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Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2018

Don’t bash the competition. Every investor knows how vulnerable a new startup is to competitors, so investors always ask about your sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. That says you are competitive today, have a real barrier to entry, and the potential to remain ahead of the competition for a long time.

Competition 51

Competition Patents Resource Entrepreneur 51

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Based on my experience as an angel investor and a mentor to dozens of entrepreneurs, having no business plan is the quickest way to define yourself as just a dreamer, or at best a hobbyist. For example, “I just patented a new cell-phone technology that will double battery life for half the cost.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2015

Here are the most common elevator pitch missteps I see often as an angel investor and advisor to startups, with some quick advice on how to address each: Insist on leading with the story of the company. Your second sentence should acknowledge competition, but highlight your added value. You don’t have time for any story at this point.

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Startup Summary Patents Examples 104

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2015

As an angel investor, I hear many entrepreneurs making negative comments about competitors or asserting they don’t have any competitors. They don’t realize that knocking competitors is assessed as a weakness and denying that you have any competition suggests there is no market for your solution.

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Capital Competition Case Study Patents 63

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

Also, be sure to evaluate the veracity of the startup alumni network – look for examples in which alumni assisted startups as advisors, investors, etc. How much Angel and institutional money did they collectively raise? Ask: How many patents were filed by students and faculty during each of the past five years?

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Class Patents 100

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Los Angeles-based Tilofy (www.tilofy.com)--out of USC''s Viterbi Startup Garage--is doing just that, helping to highlight what is going on around you, by absorbing all of that location data out there at any particular time and place. Markets now, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Las Vegas. How did Tilofy come about?

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USC Southern California Organization UCLA 236

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2016

Most universities have a file of patents from project work that they are willing to license to any entrepreneur for business commercialization, with little or no cost up front. These often lead to angel investors and venture capital investments later, or connections to local company venture funds for selected focus and technology areas.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Capital Class Startup 55

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

Los Angeles startup-- ArmorWay (www.armorwaycom)--is trying to take what has mostly been an esoteric computer science research area, and is now looking to make it applicable in real life. We''re now scaling it up, and we''ve also filed seven patents in that process. You can''t do it in real time.

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Research Patents USC Software 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

As an occasional angel investor, I always ask for a business pitch to get me in the mood. Intellectual property and sustainable competitive advantage. Patents, trade secrets, and trademarks are very attractive to investors, since these are not easily overcome by competitors.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. The founders now need a $1M Angel investment to do the marketing for a national NewCo rollout, build a team to manage the rollout, and maybe even pay themselves a salary. Let’s not take any credit here for NewCo.

Startup 108

Startup Invest Patents Outsource Development 108

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2014

Bitvore is based in Irvine, and is backed by serial entrepreneur Yuri Pikover, as well as other angels. A good example of this, we can keep track of a supply chain. It wouldn''t be covered in the Los Angeles Times, and not by the San Diego papers. Tell me about Bitvore - what''s your technology used for?

Orange County 245

Orange County Startup News IBM 245

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

GumGum is led by founder and Los Angeles native wunderkind, Ophir Tanz. They have built proprietary ad serving, video serving and image recognition technology, complete with patents, and invented in-image advertising. Though competitors have sprung up, Tanz welcomes the competition to help define the market.

Advertising 98

Advertising Santa Monica Startup Content 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2016

Unfortunately, as a startup advisor and angel investor, I’ve seen too many ventures with great potential get destroyed or set back by legal and other shortcuts that should never have been allowed to happen. Filing a provisional patent costs very little if you do it yourself, and it holds your place in line for a year.

Startup 62

Startup Patents Entrepreneur Writing 62

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2017

I hear it all the time as an angel investor, but I also see that same naïve or cavalier attitude come back to haunt entrepreneurs once they really get out in the marketplace. A strong work ethic is great, but patents and intellectual property are critical. You need quantified value for customers to see, feel, and pay for.

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Metrics Resource Startup Training 58

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2016

For example, investors recognize that online gambling sites or a medical marijuana site may generate big returns but may tarnish their squeaky clean reputation. As an active angel investor, here are some key ones I have seen, with some guidance on how to improve your odds. Secret sauce' or competitive advantage is not clear.

Funding 57

Funding Social Media Startup Patents 57

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. The founders now need a $1M Angel investment to do the marketing for a national NewCo rollout, build a team to manage the rollout, and maybe even pay themselves a salary. Let’s not take any credit here for NewCo.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Patents Outsource Development 98

socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2009

Los Angeles-based XCast Labs (www.xcastlabs.com) announced earlier this month that it has raised a $2.7M round of funding from the Pasadena Angels and Frontera Capital for a voice-over-IP service, and we thought we'd talk with Cliff Rees, the firm's CEO, to understand how the firm is different from those many providers.

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IP Pasadena Angels Pasadena Los Angeles 165

SoCal Delicious

MARCH 1, 2010

Los Angeles By: Laura Rich February 26, 2010 It used to be, if you were serious about starting a tech company, you went to Silicon Valley. But lets face it, when you think of Los Angeles, Internet startups are not the first things that spring to mind. Thats not Los Angeles. RSS ); Why You Should Start a Company in.

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Los Angeles Company Companies Angel 50

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples. Funding for pre-revenue startups used to be the domain of angel investors, but they have moved up-stage. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. Set realistic milestones and achieve some.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. The founders now need a $1M Angel investment to do the marketing for a national NewCo rollout, build a team to manage blogs and other resources, and maybe even pay themselves a salary.

Startup 93

Startup Patents Outsource Development Web 93

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 23, 2014

One great example of this is the Yoga Forum where Grokker members shared their intentions for the month and supported each other along the way. Grokker’s patent-pending approach allows us to cost effectively shoot and produce beautiful, compelling video classes of all kinds at scale. What makes you unique from the competition?

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Help Content Activity Networking 87

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups - Steve Blank , May 27, 2010 Startups need to have a great lawyer, accountant, patent attorney, etc. My angel investing strategy vs Joshua Schachter - Gabriel Weinberg , May 18, 2010 Joshua Schacter has a great AMA thread on HN about angel investing. It's a great talk. I know I do.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples. Funding for pre-revenue startups used to be the domain of angel investors, but they have moved up-stage. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. Set realistic milestones and achieve some.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples. Funding for pre-revenue startups used to be the domain of angel investors, but they have moved up-stage. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. Set realistic milestones and achieve some.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples. Funding for pre-revenue startups used to be the domain of angel investors, but they have moved up-stage. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. Set realistic objectives and milestones.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2009

We brought together Peter Cowen of Groundwork Equity , Mark Suster of GRP Partners , Rick Smith of Crosscut Ventures , and Richard Yen of Saban Ventures -- all of who will be on the judging panel for the Tech Coast Angel's Fast Pitch on February 24th, to give us a their hints and tips about pitching to venture capitalists.

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Tech Coast Angels Ideas Entrepreneur Invest 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2017

In my role as an angel investor in startups, almost every pitch I see highlights some real innovation in technology, business model, or market opportunity. Examples of being first include Netflix for movies and TV and Redfin for real estate. Innovation doesn’t always make you a winner in business.

Netflix 54

Netflix Social Media Competition Customer 54

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2010

Here are a few of the reasons, from a business perspective: Direct competition is huge. It’s hard to invent and patent more “scientific” methods on how to match people. What I am suggesting is that you won’t find many angel or VC investors who are interested. Some say that’s a billion dollar “recession proof” opportunity.

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Sites Social Network Statistics Patents 49

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

of the product, file patents, hire a small sales team and launch a marketing program to take StrongMail to market. Sequoia has a tremendous reputation, but it was also important to us to have a local (Los Angeles) VC as well. Now, finally, we would see advancements in the way people use email!

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40