article thumbnail

Retro: My Favorite Blog Post on Raising VC

Both Sides of the Table

On December 2nd, 2006 I wrote the blog post published later in this post when I was CEO of startup Koral about my experiences in pitching VCs. After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. My blog was wiped out.

article thumbnail

8 Key Startup Drivers Bring Pleasure As Well As Sweat

Startup Professionals Musings

Love that sustainable competitive advantage. Working on that unique design, or completing the breakthrough for an innovative patent, are moments of inspiration that you will never forget, especially if they become your competitive edge. Incorporate, register your domain name, trademarks, and copyrights, then patent if possible.

Startup 160
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

7 Ways Your People Skills Are The Key To Your Success

Startup Professionals Musings

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.

Startup 111
article thumbnail

Bio Roundup: Eli Lilly Tries Tau, Generic Insulin, NASH Cash & More

Xconomy

The patent holder, the University of Toronto, gave companies the right to manufacture insulin. But the university also allowed them to patent the improvements they made, which enabled them to slap higher prices on each new version. to offer competitive pricing pressure. to offer competitive pricing pressure.

Patents 77
article thumbnail

7 Success Factors When Your People Are The Solution

Startup Professionals Musings

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.

Startup 174
article thumbnail

8 New Venture Smarts That You Can’t Afford To Ignore

Startup Professionals Musings

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. The resources are out there to help you, like the book mentioned, this blog, and many more. Use them and win.

article thumbnail

5 Steps To Get You From Your First Idea To A Business

Startup Professionals Musings

Then, he'll need to patent it and create a plan to show opportunity, competition, and financial projections. I find the best business plans are not books, but may actually should start as a one-page “elevator pitch” that succinctly encompasses your business goals, problems and solution, opportunity, competition, and business model.

Ideas 126