This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
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.
“Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but mean, Needs not the painted flourish of your praise: Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye, Not uttered by base sale of chapmen’s tongues” . Patents held by startups generally have a limited ability to reduce competition. Not All Patent Types Are Created Equal.
Every business has an intellectual foundation where the CEO’s knowledge and vision create a barrier to entry that deflects some or much of the potential competition. Or we do so with brilliant research and development, highly trained sales forces, large advertising campaigns, or secret processes.
You alone will never find enough hours in a day to keep with all the challenges of sales, support, and scaling the business, in addition to developing and delivering your solution. Intellectual property is required for a competitive edge. As an angel investor myself, I’ve often heard the argument that your solution has no competition.
Every business has an intellectual foundation where the CEO’s knowledge and vision create a barrier to entry that deflects some or much of the potential competition. Patents, branding, marketing and more. Or we do so with brilliant research and development, highly trained sales forces, large advertising campaigns, or secret processes.
Finally, I started pushing the idea, like a vacuum cleaner sales men, showing it to retailers and vendors, and it finally caught on. I decided we''d patent a sliding mechanism on our Bluetooth, and use 3D printers to take pictures that people send to us, and my company will design a Bluetooth based on their picture, on our 3D printer.
Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Once a new product is launched, a key metric is the ratio of new product sales to overall sales. Accountability.
Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Once a new product is launched, a key metric is the ratio of new product sales to overall sales. Accountability.
For a software startup, a patent can be the intellectual property providing the key competitive advantage, or it can be an expensive non-defensible bureaucratic nightmare -- or both. Some argue to simply eliminate software patents, while others put their hopes in U.S. There is no such thing as a world-wide patent.
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.
The most attractive revenue model today for services is subscriptions, and for products it is sales and support. Investors know that operational and employee expenses are always higher than anticipated, not to mention customer acquisition costs, capital expenses, and ongoing competitive initiatives.
For example, “I just patented a new cell-phone technology that will double battery life for half the cost. Unlike [competition], we [differentiation].” Present a sustainable competitive advantage. You need to effectively communicate how your company is different and why you have an advantage over the competition.
You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch. Some resources on this: Intellectual Property is More Than Patents Does My Startup Have Intellectual Property? You’ll discover flaws and hopefully correct them. You’ll learn a lot more about the sector/industry.
In addition, we''ll be using those funds for sales and marketing, to go into new verticals and new markets, and to build our sales and marketing team. So far, we''ve put lots of investment into the engineering and technology side, and we''re now shifting to sales and marketing.
At present, no world patents or international patent process really exists, so you need to apply in every relevant country. Trying to get patent protection worldwide at the beginning is prohibitively expensive, so pick your geographies and timing carefully and strategically.
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.
You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch. Some resources on this: Intellectual Property is More Than Patents Does My Startup Have Intellectual Property? You’ll discover flaws and hopefully correct them. You’ll learn a lot more about the sector/industry.
At present, no world patents or international patent process exists, so you need to apply in every relevant country. Trying to get patent protection worldwide at the beginning is prohibitively expensive, so pick your geographies and timing carefully and strategically. Selectively protect your intellectual property worldwide.
Jonathan Simkin: I was actually in high school when I decided I'd either start a company when I graduated, or go into patent law. Back to the service itself-- you've got lots of competition in the space, how are you going to get above that noise? Jonathan Simkin: Certainly, it is extremely competitive.
At present, no world patents or international patent process exists, so you need to apply in every relevant country. Trying to get patent protection worldwide at the beginning is prohibitively expensive, so pick your geographies and timing carefully and strategically. Selectively protect your intellectual property worldwide.
These are your candidates, because they are companies already absorbing much or all the marketing expense necessary to make sales of your invention. 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. So, there you have it.
At present, no world patents or international patent process exists, so you need to apply in every relevant country. Trying to get patent protection worldwide at the beginning is prohibitively expensive, so pick your geographies and timing carefully and strategically. Selectively protect your intellectual property worldwide.
A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Sales/Marketing. Be specific on sales channels and marketing initiatives. Competition. Investors look for a sustainable competitive advantage, like a patent. What are your costs?
Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Competition and sustainable advantage. List and position your competition, or alternatives available to the customer. Highlight your sustainable competitive advantages, and barriers to entry. Marketing, sales, and partners. Opportunity sizing. Exit strategy.
At present, no world patents or international patent process exists, so you need to apply in every relevant country. Trying to get patent protection worldwide at the beginning is prohibitively expensive, so pick your geographies and timing carefully and strategically. Selectively protect your intellectual property worldwide.
It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. Executives, marketing & sales, financial projections, and funding.
At present, no world patents or international patent process really exists, so you need to apply in every relevant country. Trying to get patent protection worldwide at the beginning is prohibitively expensive, so pick your geographies and timing carefully and strategically.
Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Competition and sustainable advantage. List and position your competition, or alternatives available to the customer. Highlight your sustainable competitive advantages, and barriers to entry. Marketing, sales, and partners. Opportunity sizing. Exit strategy.
You must take advantage of those special team talents and product capabilities that make your startup superior to your competition, and do things that your competition cannot duplicate in the short term. Form a basis for making better decisions. No strategy leads to no decisions or poor decisions. Intellectual property (IP).
Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Competition and sustainable advantage. List and position your competition, or alternatives available to the customer. Highlight your sustainable competitive advantages, and barriers to entry. Marketing, sales, and partners. Opportunity sizing. Exit strategy.
These are your candidates, because they are companies already absorbing much or all the marketing expense necessary to make sales of your invention. 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. So, there you have it.
The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage. NewCo has filed a patent on one of their software tool algorithms, which is very positive, and puts them several steps ahead of others who may be venturing into the same area. Early customers and contracts in progress add value.
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.
This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition. Every new offering has competition and alternatives, so it’s not credible to claim no competitors. What are your specific marketing and sales plans? Highlight elements of traction you already have.
Who is your competition? Successful competition is a positive - they are proof your business model and/or concept work. What is your competitive advantage? You need to effectively communicate how your company is different and why you have an advantage over the competition. Don't have any? Think again.
At present, no world patents or international patent process exists, so you need to apply in every relevant country. Trying to get patent protection worldwide at the beginning is prohibitively expensive, so pick your geographies and timing carefully and strategically. Selectively protect your intellectual property worldwide.
It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. Executives, marketing & sales, financial projections, and funding.
You must take advantage of those special team talents and product capabilities that make your startup superior to your competition, and do things that your competition cannot duplicate in the short term. To form a basis for making better decisions. No strategy leads to no decisions or poor decisions. Intellectual property (IP).
The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage. NewCo has filed a patent on one of their software tool algorithms, which is very positive, and puts them several steps ahead of others who may be venturing into the same area. Early customers and contracts in progress add value.
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.
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. Relevant questions include the type of business entity (LLC or C-Corp), licensing or manufacturing, sales and marketing, and staffing. Now get real (cook it).
It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. Executives, marketing & sales, financial projections, and funding.
Long-term value propositions to society, or paradigm shifts in technology, generate interest but don’t close sales in the time frame your startup needs to survive and prosper. Sustainable competitive advantage. Investors look for specifics on sales channels, marketing collateral, social media initiatives and customer incentives.
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.
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 5,000+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
Let's personalize your content