Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

As I’ve written about recently, at Upfront Ventures we started talking a couple of years ago about wanting to fund stuff with more meaning. I think this is a combination of being realists as venture capitalists that outsized returns in our funds must come from taking on bigger, more impactful projects that can move markets.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Every school recognizes the power of “hands-on” work to help you develop your own ideas into a business. Universities have the links you need to patent attorneys, prototyping companies, investment groups, as well as a wealth of peer talent to round out your team and share the work. Take advantage of free startup programs and mentors.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Patents Outsource Development 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks. Pitching” is the insider term for presenting your product idea to people who could conceivably buy it or fund your efforts. Now get real (cook it).

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Registered patents and other intellectual property. From an investor perspective, understanding and acting early to establish a sustainable competitive advantage, and barrier to entry, is the best assurance of a financial return. Contrary to popular belief, most investors are not looking for entrepreneurs who are desperate for funding.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

A number of teams have recently been looking to turn that vision into reality, as a result of the Qualcomm Tricorder Prize , a $10M competition being run by the X Prize Foundation to create a real life Tricorder. That''s essentially how the Tricoder competition was formed--it''s time for this to happen. Mann implantable device area.

Startup 262

Startup Competition Software Review UCLA 262

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. Create a business plan online, but don’t wait for funding. Trademarks, copyrights and even patents can be completed online by anyone through the U.S. Both are wrong.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Outsource Development 108

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Entrepreneurs who are looking to attract investors need to develop and pitch a plan -- preferably written -- that answers every potential investor question about your startup before it is asked. This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

socalTECH

DECEMBER 7, 2016

Barry Lieberman: My backgruond is about 35 years in technology, business development, and sales and marketing. I built my own company around marketing services, and have been around business development, marketing, custom service, and sales, and also on the consumer side of technology, a little bit a mix of the two. All are separate.

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels CTO Coach Startup Pasadena Angels 100

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2010

(www.pitchtheangels.com) Join Tech Coast Angels members and other start up investors at the 5th Annual Los Angeles Fast Pitch Competition. and international patent and trademark procurement - IP Litigation - IP Licenses and Agreements: distribution, development, joint venture - Intellectual property aspects of mergers and acquisitions.

Southern California 113

Southern California Tech Coast Angels IP Orange County 113

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 30, 2012

This is the origin of the “solution looking for a problem” and “if we build it, they will come” syndromes, which result in surprise and frustration waiting for funding, and waiting for customers that don’t materialize. Develop the solution with your technology, and develop a strategy to maximize your impact in the marketplace.

Startup 99

Startup Competition IP Patents 99

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

What we bring to the table is competitive analytics, where we consider your security adversary, and figure how they are trying to break your system, under different scenarios, and recommend a plan which optimizes your security strategy. We''re now scaling it up, and we''ve also filed seven patents in that process.

Research 100

Research Patents USC Software 100

socalTECH

JULY 31, 2013

In the world of mobile app and Internet startups, it''s not that often that you see companies who touch the hardware side of the world get funding nowadays. The firm recently raised a $15M series C funding, and we caught up with Kevin to learn more about why its customers, and investors, are interested in its technology.

Technical Review 213

Technical Review Software Review Networking Technology 213

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2016

Non-credible funding request or unreasonable valuation. Naïve expectations on funding terms and process. Solution development undefined or incomplete. They are not interested in research and development, or funding at the idea stage. Investors expect a good value proposition in every pitch.

Entrepreneur 57

Entrepreneur Invest Funding Patents 57

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2013

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. I find that startups looking for funding often never even think of asking strategic partners, rather than just venture capitalists.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas Patents Training 100

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. Lots of thoughts here. You’ll get suggestions for improvements.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2010

This is the origin of the “ solution looking for a problem ” and “ if we build it, they will come ” syndromes, which result in surprise and frustration waiting for funding, and waiting for customers that don’t materialize. Develop the solution with your technology, and develop a strategy to maximize your impact in the marketplace.

Startup 92

Startup Competition IP Patents 92

socalTECH

JUNE 23, 2009

Semiconductor startups seem to be quite rare in today's environment, with few companies being funded or launched, due both to the difficulty of bringing products to market, lack of investment capital, as well as lots of established, large companies in the industry. We're now funded by a bunch of angels. Mike Neshat: I'm broke now.

Patents 100

Patents Sample Technical Review Pricing 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

Development schedule and checkpoints. A product plan must include the timeline and milestones involved in product research and development. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. Lots of thoughts here. You’ll get suggestions for improvements.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2012

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. I find that startups looking for funding often never even think of asking strategic partners, rather than just venture capitalists.

Ideas 109

Ideas Entrepreneur Patents Training 109

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

Registered patents and other intellectual property. From an investor perspective, understanding and acting early to establish a sustainable competitive advantage, and barrier to entry, is the best assurance of a financial return. Contrary to popular belief, most investors are not looking for entrepreneurs who are desperate for funding.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Angel Social Media Patents 107

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage.

Startup 108

Startup Invest Patents Outsource Development 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2016

Development schedule and checkpoints. A product plan must include the timeline and milestones involved in product research and development. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks.

Product 55

Product Startup Summary Entrepreneur 55

socalTECH

AUGUST 18, 2009

Recently, we learned about Solarmer Energy , a spinout of UCLA, which is developing flexible solar panels, and caught up with Woolas Hsieh , President and Founder of the firm and Dina Lozofsky , VP, Corporate Development at the firm to hear more about its emerging technology. Our company was privately funded by our partners.

UCLA 159

UCLA Technical Review El Monte Startup 159

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2015

Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks. Pitching” is the insider term for presenting your product idea to people who could conceivably buy it or fund your efforts. Now get real (cook it).

Ideas 104

Ideas Mentor Resource Entrepreneur 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2016

In fact, investors recognize that founders usually learn more from mistakes than from success, so a well-explained startup failure can improve their odds of funding the next time around. If the market is new and competition is minimal, then the time and costs of educating potential customers probably exceeds your survival time and budget.

Startup 59

Startup Training Entrepreneur Customer 59

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2014

Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks. Pitching” is the insider term for presenting your product idea to people who could conceivably buy it or fund your efforts. Now get real (cook it).

Ideas 107

Ideas Mentor Entrepreneur Resource 107

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2013

Competitive risk. Even in an open space, you need intellectual property, like patents, to keep potential competitors from overrunning you. Under-developed countries may have a strong need for your product, but are often unstable and dangerous. Think seriously about the number and clout of your competitors. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 104

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Social Network 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2017

Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks. Pitching” is the insider term for presenting your product idea to people who could conceivably buy it or fund your efforts. Now get real (cook it).

Ideas 56

Ideas Mentor Resource Product 56

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2012

Competitive risk. Even in an open space, you need intellectual property, like patents, to keep potential competitors from overrunning you. Under-developed countries may have a strong need for your product, but are often unstable and dangerous. Think seriously about the number and clout of your competitors. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Examples Social Network Marketing 108

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

So when he saw the browser it instantly dawned on him that this would be the greatest customer development tool ever. And when I say this I don’t mean they funded billion dollar companies – they literally created them. But also when you’re developing so is your competitor. We talked about patents.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage.

Startup 93

Startup Patents Outsource Development Web 93

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

It's been awhile since we last caught up with Los Angeles-based Language Weaver (www.languageweaver.com), a venture-backed firm which develops language translation software, so we sat down the other day with Mark Tapling , the President and CEO of the firm, to hear more about where the company is nowadays--plus its strategy for growth and an exit.

Software Review 145

Software Review USC Content Tech Coast Angels 145

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 3, 2015

To make sure your IP is protected — As I’ve written before, failing to develop an IP strategy, including a plan for protecting your IP as well as avoiding unwitting infringements of someone else’s, is a huge mistake. And relying on NDAs is not the answer. Accounting and Finance Support.

Startup 40

Startup Outsource Development IP Outsource 40

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 20, 2012

Justyna Wójcik, our CEO, is a seasoned software developer and team leader. Before that, she was a technical team lead at Motorola, developing mission critical communication software. He is passionate about developing reliable online services and structuring data. Any funding yet? What are your backgrounds?

Email 63

Email CTO Hire Startup Organization 63

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2010

Have you patented it? What is your plan for completing the development of your product and getting it ready to market? How will the inevitable changes in markets, consumer behaviors, and competitive offerings affect outcomes? How does it work, and how does it solve the problem? What are the features and benefits?

Startup 91

Startup Oracle Entrepreneur Ideas 91