Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 24, 2021

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.

Startup 145

Startup Patents IP Social Media 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

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 160

Startup Patents Competition Social Network 160

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

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.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. But unfortunately, most of these ideas fail at the execution level, or are not truly innovative. Ideas have to be implemented well to change a market, or the world. Find enough venturesome capital.

Startup 171

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 171

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2015

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.

Ideas 104

Ideas Mentor Resource Entrepreneur 104

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

Many experts are certain that successful entrepreneurs are the ones with the most inspiration (passion and dream), while others will assert that it’s about more perspiration (working harder). Watch that patent provide a real barrier to competitive entry. In my experience, both are always required in heavy doses.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Custom Customer 118

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

It starts with documenting and communicating a real purpose and mission in terms everyone can get excited about. Intellectual property is required for a competitive edge. Although Elon Musk doesn’t talk about it very much, he owns over 350 patents through Tesla, just one of his many companies. Neither is good.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Berkonomics

JULY 6, 2017

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.”

Competition 266

Competition Research Summary Pricing 266

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2014

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.

Ideas 107

Ideas Mentor Entrepreneur Resource 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

Whether we are talking about startups or corporations, innovation requires a leader who can inspire others to step into the unknown. It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Idea management. New product process.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2018

The key is learning to say no without offering a long list of excuses, or whining about how busy you are. 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. Learning to manage your own time is critical.

Ideas 102

Ideas Entrepreneur Tips Startup 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2020

Many experts are certain that successful entrepreneurs are the ones with the most inspiration (passion and dream), while others will assert that it’s about more perspiration (working harder). Watch that patent provide a real barrier to competitive entry. In my experience, both are always required in heavy doses.

Satisfaction 174

Satisfaction Custom Customer Outsource 174

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

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. Don’t get caught in the myth that you shouldn’t worry about monetization until after you have a large customer base. Not every great idea is a viable business.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

Now let’s talk about the basic components of a business plan. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks. Provide details on the business model.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

As a startup advisor and investor, living in an area with several local universities, I’m continually surprised by how little many entrepreneurs know about the resources available from these institutions. Other project and research reports in their library are a rich source of new ideas, if you are still looking for a place to start.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

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. Don’t get caught in the myth that you shouldn’t worry about monetization until after you have a large customer base. Not every great idea is a viable business.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

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. What about if elderly people never had to ask a relative or healthcare worker to change the batteries on their hearing aids? Meredith came to see me along with the CTO Marc Berte.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2019

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.

IP 93

IP Invest Patents Social Media 93

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

My first suggestion is that entrepreneurs need to forget the old myth that all they need to do is sketch an idea on a napkin, and investors will line up to invest. At these stages, it’s all about you, and your ability to communicate and execute effectively. Lack of intellectual property. Surprises during due diligence.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Invest Funding Patents 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2023

The key is learning to say no without offering a long list of excuses, or whining about how busy you are. 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. Learning to manage your own time is critical.

Startup 110

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Metrics 110

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2018

Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. But unfortunately, most of these ideas fail at the execution level, or are not truly innovative. Ideas have to be implemented well to change a market, or the world. Find enough venturesome capital.

Guide 95

Guide Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

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.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

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.? Especially if the idea could be whipped-up by a few 24-year olds in a few weeks? You’ll learn a lot more about the sector/industry.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2013

We caught up with founder and CEO Erik Adams to hear more about what is startup is up to, and how it''s trying to use the crowdsourcing site Indiegogo to raise money for its startup. 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.

Startup 241

Startup Slides Orange County Design 241

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.? Especially if the idea could be whipped-up by a few 24-year olds in a few weeks? You’ll learn a lot more about the sector/industry.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Startup Statistics Social Media 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

As a startup advisor and investor, living in an area with several local universities, I’m continually surprised by how little many entrepreneurs know about the resources available from these institutions. Other project and research reports in their library are a rich source of new ideas, if you are still looking for a place to start.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Now let’s talk about the basic components of a business plan. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks. Provide details on the business model.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2016

Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. But unfortunately, most of these ideas fail at the execution level, or are not truly innovative. Ideas have to be implemented well to change a market, or the world. Find enough venturesome capital.

Startup 103

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 103

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2020

The key is learning to say no without offering a long list of excuses, or whining about how busy you are. 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. Learning to manage your own time is critical.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Metrics 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2017

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.

Startup 69

Startup Patents IP Social Media 69

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2015

Whether we are talking about startups or corporations, innovation requires a leader who can inspire others to step into the unknown. It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Idea management. New product process.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

My first suggestion is that entrepreneurs need to forget the old myth that all they need to do is sketch an idea on a napkin, and investors will line up to invest. At these stages, it’s all about you, and your ability to communicate and execute effectively. Lack of intellectual property. Surprises during due diligence.

Funding 123

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Invest 123

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. So the idea is to create a device that does all of that, and you get judged on how well it does, and how easy it is to use.

Startup 262

Startup Competition Software Review UCLA 262

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2018

Whether we are talking about startups or corporations, innovation requires a leader who can inspire others to step into the unknown. It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Idea management. New product process.

Entrepreneur 64

Entrepreneur Coach Metrics Competition 64

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2017

In my role as an advisor to entrepreneurs and new businesses, I often get asked to critique an idea, but rarely get asked to comment on an implementation plan, or execution actions to date. For the record, my experience tells me that success in a new business has very little to do with the idea, and everything to do with execution.

Ideas 72

Ideas Entrepreneur Examples Satisfaction 72

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

We spoke with Ali Khoshgozaran , founder and CEO of the company, to learn more about the startup. What is Tilofy about? How did Tilofy come about? Ali Khoshgozaran: Before we started the company, me and my partner had participated in the USC Viterbi startup competition. My degree is from USC in big data.

USC 236

USC Southern California Organization UCLA 236