Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Of course, previous successes provide more direct evidence of a network of the right people.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Angel Social Media Patents 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Of course, previous successes provide more direct evidence of a network of the right people.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2012

Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. Love that sustainable competitive advantage. Incorporate, register your domain name, trademarks, and copyrights, then patent if possible.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Ideas 102

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Aspiring entrepreneurs often ask me what to do first when starting a business. Instead, entrepreneurs need to focus first on execution disciplines and timing. Your credibility as an entrepreneur is at stake. Entrepreneurs who have no patents, trade secrets or trademarks are usually deemed non-fundable and non-competitive.

Entrepreneur 59

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Ideas 59

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

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. Thus, if a startup team asks, “What is this patent worth to us?”,

IP 256

IP Patents Company Companies 256

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2012

Based on my experience as a mentor and an entrepreneur, if you fail on your first startup, you are about average. Every young entrepreneur knows implicitly that startup success is a long hard road. Of course, a real entrepreneur always takes a failure as a milestone on the road to success. How can you improve your odds?

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Statistics 109

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

Of course, we are speaking of increased valuation of your company when we speak of “wealth.” Especially if you are in the early stage of growing a business, these five risks can and often do derail entrepreneurs before realizing the riches of a great exit. And fifth: Competitive risk. . So, let’s examine them and mitigate them.

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

Sponsor some friendly competitive events with prizes. Elon Musk and Tesla made their battery patents available to anyone, to clear the path for market infrastructure growth and compatibility, which of course benefits Tesla. Let your highly motivated customers be your best marketing advocates for new customers.

Marketing 170

Marketing Startup Examples Customer 170

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. It’s also the keystone to convincing investors that you have a “sustainable competitive advantage.”

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

It’s a new age for aspiring entrepreneurs, where anyone with a dream or a hobby should be turning it into a business. 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. Patent and Trademark Office site for a few hundred dollars.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Outsource Development 108

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

As the school year kicks off for college students, one of the big tasks of the year is buying books for their courses. What our site does, instead, is it integrates directly with a student course schedule, so you can just enter your course, and it automated the process of buying all of your books simultaneously.

UCSD 185

UCSD Course Startup Sites 185

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2013

Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. Love that sustainable competitive advantage. Incorporate, register your domain name, trademarks, and copyrights, then patent if possible.

Startup 100

Startup Patents Competition Social Network 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2012

If you are an entrepreneur starting a business for the first time, I recommend that you find a product concept that is already accepted and improve on it, rather than tackling that ultimate disruptive technology. Of course, the first one gets the patent. Of course, you still have to do your homework and market research.

Patents 84

Patents Startup Statistics Course 84

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2020

As an aspiring entrepreneur, one of the most important things you need is a memorable “ elevator pitch ,” to communicate your startup value proposition and leave a great first impression on friends, investors, employees, and future customers. For example, “I have patented a new tire that will double the wear mileage at half the cost.”

Sample 127

Sample Summary Startup Slides 127

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2011

If you are an entrepreneur starting a business for the first time, I recommend that you find a product concept that is already accepted and improve on it, rather than tackling that ultimate disruptive technology. Of course, the first one gets the patent. Of course, you still have to do your homework and market research.

Startup 91

Startup Patents Statistics Course 91

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

I’m still amazed at how many technical entrepreneurs don’t have a business pitch, and offer me their product pitch or product spec instead. Of course, you wouldn’t include this data in your customer product pitch. Solo entrepreneurs have a hard time finding an investor. Business model showing costs, pricing, and margins.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2010

Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. Love that sustainable competitive advantage. Incorporate, register your domain name, trademarks, and copyrights, then patent if possible.

Startup 88

Startup Patents Competition Social Network 88

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Based on my experience as a mentor and an entrepreneur, if you fail on your first startup, you are about average. Every young entrepreneur knows implicitly that startup success is a long hard road. Of course, a real entrepreneur always takes a failure as a milestone on the road to success. How can you improve your odds?

Startup 100

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Resource 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2014

So before you decide to move your manufacturing, software development, or call center out of town, make sure you understand the following considerations: Dont give someone else control of your competitive advantage. Saving cost wont help you if you cant make the daily innovations required to stay competitive. Marty Zwilling.

Outsource Development 95

Outsource Development Outsource Offshore Software Review 95

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Many entrepreneurs stumble at this point, losing the deal or most of their ownership, by having no answer, saying “make me an offer,” or quoting an exorbitant number. The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage. Let’s not take any credit here for NewCo. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 108

Startup Invest Patents Outsource Development 108

Berkonomics

AUGUST 31, 2023

Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. The phone could be used for receiving incoming calls when in the restaurant, on the golf course or anywhere. There was even talk of some phone companies using the patented system for serving communities of guests, not just from a single hotel.

Competition 156

Competition Research Summary Pricing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

As an entrepreneur looking for professional investors, one of the quickest ways to lose credibility and get rejected is to start with a ridiculously high pre-money valuation. Patents filed, even provisional, as well as trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets count as barriers to entry and sustainable competitive advantages.

Startup 71

Startup Patents Invest Blogging 71

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

Many entrepreneurs stumble at this point, losing the deal or most of their ownership, by having no answer, saying “make me an offer,” or quoting an exorbitant number. The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage. Let’s not take any credit here for NewCo. Marty Zwilling.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Patents Outsource Development 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Many entrepreneurs stumble at this point, losing the deal or most of their ownership, by having no answer, playing coy, or quoting an exorbitant number. The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage. Tags: valuation entrepreneur startup business. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 93

Startup Patents Outsource Development Web 93

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

He began programming courses at UCLA while in high school and went on to earn a B.S. Tanz has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine “Young Millionaires of 2011 Special Report.” They have built proprietary ad serving, video serving and image recognition technology, complete with patents, and invented in-image advertising.

Advertising 98

Advertising Santa Monica Startup Content 98

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

He was a life-long entrepreneur and the first business he created out of college (actually, he founded it while he was at Caltech) was a company that manufactured high quality audio speakers. And now, of course, UberSocial, Bill’s latest project. Too many entrepreneurs focus on dilution. We talked about patents.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Berkonomics

JULY 6, 2017

Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. In 1994, (I know a long time ago), I invested over a million dollars into a company whose entrepreneurs had a vision that I bought into for many reasons, not the least of which was that I had industry experience and understood the need. Back to 1996.

Competition 266

Competition Research Summary Pricing 266

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. It’s also the keystone to convincing investors that you have a “sustainable competitive advantage.”

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

It is surprising how often entrepreneurs forget this simple fact. If taking part-time evening courses is not possible, seek out an online curriculum. Just as you would not ask your family physician to perform a coronary bypass, do not ask your corporate lawyer to help you write your patent application. Money Is Time.

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2012

One of the toughest and yet most important questions you will be asked by savvy potential startup investors is “What is your sustainable competitive advantage?” Yet many entrepreneurs, maybe in their passion for their new product, gloss over this one, or even announce that they have no competition.

Competition 97

Competition Patents Startup Social Network 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. It’s also the keystone to convincing investors that you have a “sustainable competitive advantage.”

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2011

One of the toughest and yet most important questions you will be asked by savvy potential startup investors is “What is your sustainable competitive advantage?” Yet many entrepreneurs, maybe in their passion for their new product, gloss over this one, or even announce that they have no competition.

Competition 102

Competition Patents Startup Social Network 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. It’s also the keystone to convincing investors that you have a “sustainable competitive advantage.”

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2018

Many experts will tell you that you can’t succeed as a part-time entrepreneur, as any good startup will require a 100 percent commitment of your time and energy. Thus I often recommend that entrepreneurs keep their day job until the startup is producing revenue. But the entrepreneur lifestyle is still more fun, even part-time.

Ideas 102

Ideas Entrepreneur Tips Startup 102

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

Dare I steer off the course from the tried-and-true PowerPoint ritual? Experienced and serial entrepreneurs in the content management space. Distributed version control model – first in the industry like ours and we are filing patents. Page 3: Competition. Folksonomy. Free product. Page 4: Business Model.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2023

Many experts will tell you that you can’t succeed as a part-time entrepreneur, as any good startup will require a 100 percent commitment of your time and energy. Thus I often recommend that entrepreneurs keep their day job until the startup is producing revenue. But the entrepreneur lifestyle is still more fun, even part-time.

Startup 110

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Metrics 110

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2021

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs and occasional angel investor, I often see and hear innovative product pitches that sound exciting, but are missing one or more of the key business elements that investors deem critical for funding consideration. Patents are a good place for you to start.

Funding 132

Funding Template Resource Competition 132