Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2015

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.

Startup 118

Startup Competition Patents Resource 118

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

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 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

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.

Angel 65

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

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Most of these investors are members of Angel groups that have a rigorous filtering and screening process, to select the top 3% and most fundable proposals. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. Registered patents and other intellectual property. The strengths of those early relationships can override all of these results indicators, and let you fly with the angels without a second look when the time is right.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Get your Internet domain name and website.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

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.

Class 124

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

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many strategies leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. Patents and trademarks are very valuable in attracting investors for scaling, as well as future premium buyouts.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. For seed stage funding, entrepreneurs should be looking to friends and family, crowd funding, and relevant institutions.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Invest Funding Patents 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Get your Internet domain name and website.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. Registered patents and other intellectual property. The strengths of those early relationships can override all of these results indicators, and let you fly with the angels without a second look when the time is right.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2021

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. I’ve asked this question many times of presenters in Angel meetings, and often get a blank look.

Software Review 123

Software Review Seed Funding Funding Startup 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

As an angel investor, what I’m looking for is key data from your business plan, including financial projections, how much money you are looking for and a quantification of my potential return. Include your sustainable competitive advantage. Once you have their attention, content is key.

Summary 101

Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many strategies leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. Patents and trademarks are very valuable in attracting investors for scaling, as well as future premium buyouts.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Startup Statistics Social Media 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

As an angel investor, I see plenty of startups focusing on building an innovative product, but I’m looking for the few who are also leading with an exponential growth strategy, to put them in the category of the next Amazon or Google. Sponsor some friendly competitive events with prizes.

Marketing 170

Marketing Examples Startup Custom 170

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

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.

Capital 63

Capital Competition Case Study Patents 63

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. For seed stage funding, entrepreneurs should be looking to friends and family, crowd funding, and relevant institutions.

Funding 123

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Invest 123

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

Did anybody hold patents that would prevent us from using this technology? I seldom hire patent attorneys during due diligence but this was too important. Meredith Perry came up with the idea for uBeam while still in college at University of Pennsylvania and like many great inventors won her school’s business plan competition.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

The bad news is that many are already doing it, with competition growing, so the longer you wait, the less chance you have of getting there first. In a new startup, there is tremendous competitive value in registering intellectual property early, but you don’t need to contract these tasks to expensive experts any longer.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Outsource Development 108

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 5, 2012

Music Prodigy , a Los Angeles based music education technology firm serious on improving the way people learn, play and interact with music beat over 70 startups with their app Rock Prodigy to win the Silicon Beach Awards. Winning the USC’s Silicon Beach Awards however is not their only accomplishment. Practice, Right Skills & Experience.

Education 106

Education Startup Technology Patents 106

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

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? How active (and helpful) is the technology transfer office, as measured by the number of patents licensed by alumni and students annually.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Venture Capital Class Patents 100

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

For instance, a services business or an opportunity with limited growth potential might be a good fit for an Angel investor, but not a venture capitalist. A restaurant is a generally appropriate for a bank, but not an Angel investor. Patents and Trademarks. Competition. Real World Executive Summary Template.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2010

Los Angeles-based executive search for emerging growth companies. Tech Coast Angels Fast Pitch - February 24th - UCLA. www.pitchtheangels.com) Join Tech Coast Angels members and other start up investors at the 5th Annual Los Angeles Fast Pitch Competition. Dedicated to our Clients. Advertisers. Don't miss it!

Southern California 113

Southern California Tech Coast Angels IP Orange County 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Statistics Social Media Startup 124

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

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?

USC 236

USC Southern California Organization UCLA 236

socalTECH

DECEMBER 7, 2016

Orange County startup Beatshare --backed by the Tech Coast Angels, Pasadena Angels, Harvard Business School Angels, and Archangels, among others�thinks it's figured out the formula to make music the message in its mobile app. We worked on Beatshare at Chapman, where there was a business plan competition, which we won.

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels CTO Coach Startup Pasadena Angels 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Competition and sustainable advantage. Opportunity sizing.

Slides 99

Slides Competition Sample Sales 99

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.

Startup 104

Startup Summary Patents Examples 104

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.

Research 100

Research Patents USC Software 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2013

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. I’ve asked this question many times of presenters in Angel meetings, and often get a blank look. Use them and win.

Software Review 106

Software Review Funding Startup Seed Funding 106

socalTECH

JUNE 23, 2009

We're now funded by a bunch of angels. The price hasn't gone down, but I chose to fund it myself initially and then went to angels, because I felt the right time to go to VCs was when the valuation was higher. So there's no legal issues for us, and if they don't infringe on our patents, there's no worry for them.

Patents 100

Patents Sample Technical Review Pricing 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Competition and sustainable advantage. Opportunity sizing.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93