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We talked about patents. Bill doesn’t think you should over invest in them but he does believe in protecting ideas when you have a true invention and many of his companies have done so. We had a nice discussion on this topic.
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.
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.
In case you hadn’t noticed, the key elements of a competitive advantage for your business have changed as businesses move online, and your domain is instantly global. As a business advisor, I have to recommend even to established companies that they review and revamp their competitive strategy now, even if it appears to be working today.
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.
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. Here’s where some intelligent market research might have saved the company and my investment. There is no competition.”
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.
One of the most important questions you will be asked by potential investors is how your solutions beats the competition, not just today, but over the three to five year life of their investment. The concept is called “sustainable competitive advantage.” That implies competitive now, and the potential to stay in the lead.
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.
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.
This raises a big red flag with potential investors, who conclude that no competitors means no market, or you haven’t looked, and the new startup is likely not investable. Competition for your new hydrogen fuel auto engine is not limited to other hydrogen auto engine offerings, or even other autos. Investors check connections.
This raises a big red flag with potential investors, who conclude that no competitors means no market, or you haven’t looked, and the new startup is likely not investable. Competition for your new hydrogen fuel auto engine is not limited to other hydrogen auto engine offerings, or even other autos. Investors check connections.
Either of these qualms can ultimately sidetrack your startup as not worthy of investment, so it pays to do your homework on what you say and how to communicate effectively. This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition.
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.
Jeff Bezos readily admits that his first career in a Wall Street-based investment banking firm gave him some keen insights into business realities, before a fear of regret and a personal passion led him to create Amazon, now the largest ecommerce site in the world. Intellectual property is required for a competitive edge.
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.
Fantastic post by Christian Gammill - Startup Delta Force… From a competitive perspective (e.g. all the other folks out there that will try to enter the same market) the barriers have been dropping over the last few years. Business - how are you actually going to make money? many more (please comment below)
Professional investors will probe these five risk areas and make the decision to invest based upon comfort with each. Another is to gain the support of a core vendor who is willing to offer special extended terms to the company as its investment in creating the product in a finished state. And fifth: Competitive risk.
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.
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.
Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. But wait for the mic drop… [Email readers, continue here…] Here’s where some intelligent market research might have saved the company and my investment. In this case, the competition was not from a company but from a new technology.
The founders now need a $1M Angel investment to do the marketing for a national NewCo rollout, build a team to manage the rollout, and maybe even pay themselves a salary. 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.
File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. Having a defensible competitive advantage or “barrier to entry” is another critical step to funding, and another common stumbling block during all phases of the funding process. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. Define some intellectual property.
A business plan is the outward facing definition of the business you hope to drive with your hardware solution, with a hardware overview in the intro to highlight customer value and competitiveness. For example, “We just patented a new battery technology that will cut your smartphone charge time and cost in half.” and trademarks.
One of the most important questions you will be asked by potential investors is how your solutions beats the competition, not just today, but over the three to five year life of their investment. The concept is called “sustainable competitive advantage.” Our patent will protect us.” We have the first mover advantage.”
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. You have no shelf life, so you can’t make money while you sleep.
Professional investors will probe these five risk areas and make the decision to invest based upon comfort with each. Another is to gain the support of a core vendor who is willing to offer special extended terms to the company as its investment in creating the product in a finished state. And fifth: Competitive risk. .
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.
One of the toughest and yet most important questions you will be asked by savvy potential 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. Proven team with inside relationships.
Investors know that operational and employee expenses are always higher than anticipated, not to mention customer acquisition costs, capital expenses, and ongoing competitive initiatives. Patents are a good place for you to start. Convince me that you understand your competition. Outline your key activities to win.
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.
Will the solution give you an “unfair competitive advantage,” meaning no competitor already has it, or can replicate your solution without your skills or intellectual property. Professional investors normally like to invest only in billion dollar opportunities, with double-digit growth rates. Is there an educated marketplace waiting?
The patent holder, the University of Toronto, gave companies the right to manufacture insulin. But the university also allowed them to patent the improvements they made, which enabled them to slap higher prices on each new version. to offer competitive pricing pressure. to offer competitive pricing pressure.
Although their book is written for businesses of all sizes, I believe the principles apply especially to startups as follows: Increase return on equity invested. The first purpose of a strategy is to organize and reallocate your resources to increase return on the amount of money invested in your startup to-date.
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. Patents may slow down competition, but they are not a real barrier to entry. Even a single-product startup better assume twice the cost if they want any profit.
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. Patents may slow down competition, but they are not a real barrier to entry. Even a single-product startup better assume twice the cost if they want any profit.
Middle Market Investment Banking. www.pitchtheangels.com) Join Tech Coast Angels members and other start up investors at the 5th Annual Los Angeles Fast Pitch Competition. Costello and Sons Insurance Brokers (www.costelloandsons.com). Custom Insurance Programs for Technology Companies. Deloitte (www.deloitte.com/us/technology).
Here are six key reasons, from a business perspective: Direct competition is huge. So sites have to invest heavily in viral marketing to achieve critical mass, which competes with current social networks, while users expect to join both for free. It’s hard to invent and patent more “scientific” methods on how to match people.
So here goes: How would I find companies willing to license my intellectual property or to invest in a royalty stream from licenses? Investment banker? They will be more willing to pay a royalty fee if your product gets them to market earlier or is protected by patent to create a barrier to their competition.
We''re reducing the cost at the access point level and at the endpoint level, and continuing to invest to bring our cost points down. So far, we''ve put lots of investment into the engineering and technology side, and we''re now shifting to sales and marketing. The capital risk is higher, and the payoff comes over the longer term.
Although their book is written for businesses of all sizes, I believe the principles apply especially to startups as follows: To increase return on equity invested. The first purpose of a strategy is to organize and reallocate your resources to increase return on the amount of money invested in your startup to-date.
Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the key to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. They benchmark their ideas against competition, use metrics to track acceptance, sales growth, and return on investment. Accountability. Remember that innovation cycles need to keep getting shorter.
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. The most investable ventures stem from painful needs by customers who have money to spend. Investors invest in people, often more so than in the product.
" 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. Include your sustainable competitive advantage. Project revenues, costs and investment expectations.
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