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He presented the idea at the TED conference in the mid 90′s and was literally boo’d while he was on stage. The idea actually came to him from the Yellow Pages business. He came up to Bill after the event and said, “clever idea, we should do that with you.&# Summary notes, as always, provide below.
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?”,
As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. In reality, I like most ideas, but I have to tell them that the real challenge is taking the inspiration from a dream to a business reality. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks.
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.
Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. There was even talk of some phone companies using the patented system for serving communities of guests, not just from a single hotel. In this case, the competition was not from a company but a new technology. There is no competition.”
One thing I have learned the hard way in business is that implementing new ideas is usually much more difficult than conceiving the idea in the first place. That’s why I caution my aspiring entrepreneur clients against proclaiming to investors that they are a great “idea” person. For example, I have a friend with a Ph.D.
Most aspiring entrepreneurs believe their initial idea and inspiration requires the most important creative thinking. 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. Marty Zwilling.
In my experience, consummate entrepreneurs tend come up with more startup ideas than they can ever implement, and some of the ideas may not even make business sense. But how does any entrepreneur know which ideas to implement, and which ones are best left behind? Separate nice-to-have ideas from ones solving painful problems.
Where''d the idea for the company come from? I had the idea that instead of a gray box, it would be great to change that to a beautiful flower. I had the idea that instead of a gray box, it would be great to change that to a beautiful flower. Erik Adams: It''s more of a validation of the idea, and to pique people''s interest.
Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. I have stated previously that I love absolutes – statements with no wiggle room for gray-area responses. There was even talk of some phone companies using the patented system for serving communities of guests, not just from a single hotel.
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.? Especially if the idea could be whipped-up by a few 24-year olds in a few weeks? Lots of thoughts here.
As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. In reality, I like most ideas, but I have to tell them that the real challenge is taking the inspiration from a dream to a business. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks.
As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. In reality, I like most ideas, but I have to tell them that the real challenge is taking the inspiration from a dream to a business. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks.
Most aspiring entrepreneurs believe their initial idea and inspiration requires the most important creative thinking. 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. Marty Zwilling.
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.? Especially if the idea could be whipped-up by a few 24-year olds in a few weeks? Lots of thoughts here.
A great idea often fails from the inexperience or inability of management to bring the idea to market. Similarly, great management often can manipulate an original idea or business plan into one much more attuned to the market, adding tremendous value that might have been lost sticking to the original plan.
Most entrepreneurs are quick to assert to potential investors that their product or solution will kill the competition, but unfortunately your opinion alone is not enough to convince most experienced investors. A competitive advantage to a non-problem or tiny niche is not interesting to investors.
Great Startup Ideas Come From Everywhere. "At "At Microsoft there are lots of brilliant ideas but the image is that they all come from the top – I'm afraid that's not quite right." Bill’s advice reflects Microsoft’s hardnosed culture, which encourages internal competition and a ruthless pursuit of the truth.
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.
A large portion of your competitive advantage and your potential value to investors is the size of your intellectual property portfolio. When someone says Intellectual Property (IP), most entrepreneurs think only of patents. In reality, patents are only one of at least eight items that should be in your IP portfolio. Copyrights.
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. Strategic planning is a required ongoing investment. Neither is good.
It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. Idea management. New product process.
Select a business idea that has a longer runway. Some startup ideas are dependent on a rapidly emerging fad, or have many competitors fighting for a limited market. On the other hand, if you have a new technology, with patent applied for, maybe you more time to get it right. Marty Zwilling.
That’s why all those so-called million dollar ideas I hear about as an investor don’t get me excited, and entrepreneurs find that working twenty hours a day often generates nothing more than sweat, instead of the desired sweat equity. Watch that patent provide a real barrier to competitive entry.
Ali Khoshgozaran: Before we started the company, me and my partner had participated in the USC Viterbi startup competition. About 100 teams participated in that competition, and 10 teams were selected to be part of USC''s Viterbi Startup Garage program. How did Tilofy come about? An example of that is the UCLA flood.
This point was illustrated well in the classic book, “ The Power of Positive Destruction: How to Turn a Business Idea Into a Revolution ,” by Seth Merrin. I like his approach to first making sure the idea has the potential for a unique selling proposition, by asking yourself a few key questions: Does the idea solve a painful problem?
It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. Idea management. New product process.
Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. There was even talk of some phone companies using the patented system for serving communities of guests, not just from a single hotel. In this case, the competition was not from a company but from a new technology. There is no competition.”
Email readers, continue here…] A great idea often fails from the inexperience or inability of management to bring the idea to market. And fifth: Competitive risk. . Third: Management risk. .
Most colleges have now added classes in entrepreneurship to include the necessary business focus to technical majors that usually drive innovative ideas. Every school recognizes the power of “hands-on” work to help you develop your own ideas into a business. Good business basics are not intuitive.
As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. For example, “We just patented a new battery technology that will cut your smartphone charge time and cost in half.” Use non-fuzzy terms to quantify customer value.
The discipline of writing down your plan is the best way to make sure you understand how to transform your idea into a business, and how to communicate it. Not every great idea is a viable business. Dreamers come up with ideas, and do-ers come up with businesses. A business plan is for you first, not investors.
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.
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.
So, I started toying with a few ideas, and found that I could add these tiny inserts between the camera and waterproof housing. However, the little mom and pop surf shops took on to the idea. It''s prevented outside competition from coming in, and prevented anyone from taking up any decent market share from us. READ MORE>>.
The honest answer is that ideas and new technologies are worth nothing, outside the context of a specific entrepreneur and a specific business plan that meets a market need for a fair price. Is it competitive to the current alternatives? Patents may slow down competition, but they are not a real barrier to entry.
The honest answer is that ideas and new technologies are worth nothing, outside the context of a specific business plan that meets a market need for a fair price. Is it competitive to the current alternatives? File a provisional patent as a place holder, a full patent, trademark, copyright, or all of the above.
A large portion of your competitive advantage and your potential value to investors is the size of your intellectual property portfolio. When someone says Intellectual Property (IP), most entrepreneurs think only of patents. In reality, patents are only one of at least eight items that should be in your IP portfolio. Copyrights.
It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the key to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. Idea management. New product process.
Most aspiring entrepreneurs believe their initial idea and inspiration requires the most important creative thinking. 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. Marty Zwilling.
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.
A large portion of your competitive advantage and your potential value to investors is the size of your intellectual property portfolio. When someone says Intellectual Property (IP), most entrepreneurs think only of patents. In reality, patents are only one of at least eight items that should be in your IP portfolio. Copyrights.
A large portion of your competitive advantage and your potential value to investors is the size of your intellectual property portfolio. When someone says Intellectual Property (IP), most entrepreneurs think only of patents. In reality, patents are only one of at least eight items that should be in your IP portfolio. Copyrights.
A great idea often fails from the inexperience or inability of management to bring the idea to market. Similarly, great management often can manipulate an original idea or business plan into one much more attuned to the market, adding tremendous value that might have been lost sticking to the original plan.
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