Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

Intellectual property is required for a competitive edge. You may think that patents and copyrights are not required, since your products are so innovative, but you will find that competitors are quick to copy your idea if you don’t protect it. That first burst of customers via word-of-mouth or a viral video won’t sustain your growth.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

However, to a Big Dumb Company (BDC), a startup’s IP is a thing of beauty. Patents held by startups generally have a limited ability to reduce competition. The average time required to obtain a patent is 36-to-40 months, during which there is no guarantee your adVenture will ultimately receive patent protection.

IP 256

IP Patents Company Companies 256

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

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. If you don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

Outsourcing is defined as contracting the work to another company, usually located in a developing country, like India, China, or Eastern Europe. Saving cost won’t help you if you can’t make the daily innovations required to stay competitive. Customer-facing services, like call centers, should rarely be outsourced.

Software Review 114

Software Review Technical Review Outsource Development Outsource 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2022

I call this linear thinking , and it’s a sure way to be ultimately overrun by your competition. For example, Elon Musk, who owns many battery patents , normally kept for a competitive edge, decided to open them all to any competitors in an effort to expand the market for his electric vehicles.

Competition 139

Competition Examples Customer Custom 139

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. How will you reach your customers?

Sales 102

Sales Customer Custom Outsource 102

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. If you don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

In my experience, finding real innovation in existing company environments is even tougher. It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

In the creation of a young company, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur. One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. And fifth: Competitive risk. .

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

A product plan has tremendous value inward facing, telling your product people what to build, while the business plan has maximum value outward facing, explaining to the rest of the world how your new company will survive and prosper. These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2021

Experienced entrepreneurs will tell you that the initial idea is the easy part, and it’s the later implementation, and the competitive business marketing that are the real creative challenges. Many businesses have found that raising the price of a product to give it status can win more customers than a price war. Think the unthinkable.

Ideas 171

Ideas Patents Training Entrepreneur 171

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2018

Business partnerships have traditionally been agreements to drive more transactions than either company could do alone. The new paradigm, driven by disruptive technologies, cloud-served supercomputing, and the new generation of young adults with global empathy, is partnering and giving something now for a competitive advantage in the future.

Competition 60

Competition IBM IBM Startup 60

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

NOVEMBER 4, 2010

A while back, I wrote about the importance of a “ sustainable competitive advantage ,” and outlined the business plan value and limitations of patents and competitor feature comparisons. But once you start selling products, all of these pale in comparison to your level of customer service. Exceed customer expectations.

Customer 90

Customer Custom Services Startup 90

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

Business partnerships have traditionally been agreements to drive more transactions than either company could do alone. The new paradigm, driven by disruptive technologies, cloud-served supercomputing, and the new generation of young adults with global empathy, is partnering and giving something now for a competitive advantage in the future.

IBM 131

IBM IBM Startup Examples 131

Berkonomics

AUGUST 23, 2012

By definition, your core is your intellectual property foundation, the thing that makes your business most valuable to customers, investors and perhaps someday to potential buyers. Email readers, continue here.] Sometimes we protect our core with effective branding and marketing.

Patents 159

Patents Training Resource Advertising 159

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

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 12, 2015

On a micro level, you can do your part to fix tech's gender problem by recruiting people with diverse backgrounds and place them in a company culture that rewards those who challenge the status quo. One of these bright lights is Santa Barbara-based HG Data - developers of the world's largest competitive-intelligence database. <Note:

Company 100

Company Companies Santa Barbara Education 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

What I want to hear is an innovative marketing and growth strategy that will set you apart in the minds of investors, as well as customers. Today’s customer is especially attracted to companies like TOMS , who donates a pair of shoes for every pair they sell, or Patagonia, with its support for grassroots environmental groups.

Marketing 170

Marketing Startup Examples Customer 170

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

Of course, we are speaking of increased valuation of your company when we speak of “wealth.” One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. And fifth: Competitive risk. .

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

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

APRIL 13, 2020

Outsourcing is defined as contracting the work to another company, usually located in a developing country, like India, China, or Eastern Europe. Saving cost won’t help you if you can’t make the daily innovations required to stay competitive. Customer-facing services, like call centers, should rarely be outsourced.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

A product plan has tremendous value inward facing, telling your product people what to build, while the business plan has maximum value outward facing, explaining to the rest of the world how your new company will survive and prosper. These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 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

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Mark Zuckerberg, while still in school, tested the viability of his “ FaceMash ” technology as a business by rolling it out to other students at Harvard as customers. He learned quickly that several pivots were required for business, legal, and customer acceptance reasons. Take advantage of free startup programs and mentors.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

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

FEBRUARY 14, 2020

Business partnerships have traditionally been agreements to drive more transactions than either company could do alone. The new paradigm, driven by disruptive technologies, cloud-served supercomputing, and the new generation of young adults with global empathy, is partnering and giving something now for a competitive advantage in the future.

Startup 124

Startup IBM IBM Examples 124

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. And fifth: Competitive risk. Second: Market risk. Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service?

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

I see too many executive summaries that are simply heavy-duty customer pitches, or lightweight visions of the future. " Investors want to buy into an entrepreneur with a startup that can provide evidence of an ability to double customer productivity, at half the cost, with patented technology.

Summary 101

Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2013

We''ve put a spin on this, where you can use your own personalization or custom designs for your own Bluetooth headset, just like you would create a personalized case for your smartphone. Where''d the idea for the company come from? What''s your competitive advantage against others in the headset/accessories market? READ MORE>>.

Startup 241

Startup Slides Orange County Design 241

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

As a self-made entrepreneur and former chairman of Diamond Resorts International, he asserts that the five biggest companies by market value today, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple, aren’t really tech, but hospitality companies. Customer needs and expectations are changing faster than ever these days.

Technical Advisors 82

Technical Advisors Artificial Inteligence Customer Custom 82

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. The same thing goes for incorporating your company, having key hires lined up, and facilities arranged as required.

Software Review 123

Software Review Seed Funding Funding Startup 123

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2015

In my experience, finding real innovation in existing company environments is even tougher. It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Set milestones and meet them. Ownership. Business risks are not just development risks.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2018

In my experience, finding real innovation in existing company environments is even tougher. It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions.

Entrepreneur 64

Entrepreneur Coach Metrics Competition 64

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. If you don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Since this document is outward facing, it is important to keep the terminology and tone consistent with that of your customer set, investors, and business partners. For example, “I just patented a new cell-phone technology that will double battery life for half the cost. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2015

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. Smart investors, competitors and smart customers, will listen and watch carefully as you position your new offering. Use real case studies and customer feedback.

Capital 63

Capital Competition Case Study Patents 63