Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

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. Highly saturated domains (more than 10 existing players), such as niche social media sites, are highly risky. Is there an educated marketplace waiting?

Startup 166

Startup Education Ideas Custom 166

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

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. Build a web site and incorporate while in school. Initiate networking to find peer partners and investors. Write a business plan and pitch deck for learning.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

The first page of the business plan better be an executive summary which gives the investor a taste of the financials, as well as opportunity, competition, and key executives. “I They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. Look how many social media ‘likes’ my site has generated.”

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Startup Statistics Social Media 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2018

The most common proposals I hear are for yet another social networking site ( over 200 exist ), or another dating site (over 2500 in the US alone). Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. Accountability.

Entrepreneur 64

Entrepreneur Metrics Coach Competition 64

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2015

The most common proposals I hear are for yet another social networking site ( over 200 active ), or another dating site (now over 2500 in the US alone). Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the key to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. Accountability. Observe and measure.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

A few years ago, I first saw an interesting step in that direction via the classic book “ Entrepreneurial DNA ,” by Joe Abraham , with his assessment web site. These are the ultimate chess players in the game of business, always looking to be two or three moves ahead of the competition. Opportunist.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

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. In a new startup, there is tremendous competitive value in registering intellectual property early, but you don’t need to contract these tasks to expensive experts any longer.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Outsource Development 108

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. What''s your competitive advantage against others in the headset/accessories market? Our competitive advantage is fashion. What is Deka Sounds?

Startup 241

Startup Slides Orange County Design 241

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2016

The most common proposals I hear are for yet another social networking site ( over 200 active ), or another dating site (over 2500 in the US alone). Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. Accountability.

Metrics 64

Metrics Coach Competition Ideas 64

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2012

The elevator pitch should be the first few paragraphs of your business plan, your executive summary, your investor presentation, and the first page of your web site. For example, “I just patented a new cell-phone technology that will double battery life for half the cost. Unlike [competition], we [differentiation].”

Startup 113

Startup Patents Template Competition 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2020

For example, “I have patented a new tire that will double the wear mileage at half the cost.” Describe technology and features, not competitiveness. It should be imbedded in the home page of your web site, the introduction section of your business plan, the heart of your executive summary, and the first slide of your investor pitch.

Sample 127

Sample Summary Startup Slides 127

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

We spoke with Jonathan about the advantages of SwoopThat over existing sites. Jonathan Simkin: What makes us unique from other sites, is we're here to help students save time, in addition to money, when they buy books. How did you come up with the web site? Jonathan Simkin: Certainly, it is extremely competitive.

UCSD 185

UCSD Course Startup Sites 185

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

The first page of the business plan better be an executive summary which gives the investor a taste of the financials, as well as opportunity, competition, and key executives. “I They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. Look how many social media ‘likes’ my site has generated.”

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Statistics Social Media Startup 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

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.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. 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.

Startup 108

Startup Invest Patents Outsource Development 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

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.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

The elevator pitch should be the first few paragraphs of your business plan, your executive summary, your investor presentation, and the first page of your web site. Who is your competition? Successful competition is a positive - they are proof your business model and/or concept work. What is your competitive advantage?

Startup 93

Startup Competition Summary Patents 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2021

Online dating sites usually fail because online dating usually fails. Here are six key reasons, from a business perspective: Direct competition is huge. This business suffers from what Paul Graham calls the ‘chicken and the egg problem‘ – no one wants to use a dating site with only a few users. The spend is still going up.

Sites 134

Sites Social Network Networking Competition 134

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. Some resources on this: Intellectual Property is More Than Patents Does My Startup Have Intellectual Property? He tells us you'll get the following benefits from talking to lots of people: There are lots of benefits to talking to people. False Confidence.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

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.

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. Some resources on this: Intellectual Property is More Than Patents Does My Startup Have Intellectual Property? He tells us you'll get the following benefits from talking to lots of people: There are lots of benefits to talking to people. False Confidence.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. 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.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Patents Outsource Development 98

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. On the Internet, I would add new social networking sites, and new matchmaking sites. Think seriously about the number and clout of your competitors. Operational risk.

Startup 104

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Social Network 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2016

For example, investors recognize that online gambling sites or a medical marijuana site may generate big returns but may tarnish their squeaky clean reputation. Secret sauce' or competitive advantage is not clear. It costs very little to file a provisional patent to begin your protection.

Funding 57

Funding Social Media Patents Startup 57

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. On the Internet, I would add new social networking sites, and new matchmaking sites. Think seriously about the number and clout of your competitors. Operational risk.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Examples Social Network Marketing 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2017

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. Highly saturated domains (more than 10 existing players), such as niche social media sites, are highly risky. Is there an educated marketplace waiting?

Startup 58

Startup Education Ideas Custom 58

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

The first page of the business plan better be an executive summary which gives the investor a taste of the financials, as well as opportunity, competition, and key executives. “I They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. Look how many social media ‘likes’ my site has generated.”

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Statistics 109

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

The first page of the business plan better be an executive summary which gives the investor a taste of the financials, as well as opportunity, competition, and key executives. “I They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. Look how many social media ‘likes’ my site has generated.”

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Statistics Startup 119

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

In today’s world, if you don’t have a web site up and running, you will not be perceived as a real company. Investors routinely go to candidate web sites to get a feel for the tone and scope of the company, as well as its maturity and offerings. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 28, 2012

LoveIt is a site for individuals and groups to discover, collect, organize and share images they love in public or private collections. When we discussed the feedback we saw an opportunity to use our backgrounds in search and discovery to help us stand out from the competition. What is LoveIt and why the name? Who is your target user?

Organization 90

Organization Content Tool Blogging 90

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

The first page of the business plan better be an executive summary which gives the investor a taste of the financials, as well as opportunity, competition, and key executives. “I They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. Look how many social media ‘likes’ my site has generated.”

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. 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.

Startup 93

Startup Patents Outsource Development Web 93

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

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

In today’s world, if you don’t have a web site up and running, you will not be perceived as a real company. Investors routinely go to candidate web sites to get a feel for the tone and scope of the company, as well as its maturity and offerings. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

We've also had great advances in engaging the trust of the commercial community, with patented advances like automatic scoring of our algorithms, which predicts the quality of translations based on a one-through-five scale. Originally, you had a lot of government customers, and were just starting out with a few commercial customers.

USC 145

USC Software Review Content Customer 145

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

Competitive risk. Even in an open space, you need intellectual property, like patents, to keep potential competitors from overrunning you. On the Internet, I would add new social networking sites, and new matchmaking sites. Think seriously about the number and clout of your competitors. Operational risk.

Startup 89

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Social Network 89

socalTECH

AUGUST 18, 2009

About a year later, we recognized that it was very important to also have the patent, and Dina joined us. That makes solar panels as a product not competitive at all, if you removed government subsidies. Woolas Hsieh: We certainly feel that flexible solar cells, particularly our plastic solar cells, are very competitive.

UCLA 159

UCLA Technical Review El Monte Startup 159