Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. 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. A business plan is for you first, not investors.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

Then, he'll need to patent it and create a plan to show opportunity, competition, and financial projections. I have found that the process of writing down your idea, with a plan for implementation, and reviewing that plan with a business advisor, will force you to learn and acknowledge the real requirements for implementation.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Registered patents and other intellectual property. From an investor perspective, understanding and acting early to establish a sustainable competitive advantage, and barrier to entry, is the best assurance of a financial return.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

So before you decide to move your manufacturing, software development, or call center out of town, make sure you understand the following considerations: Don’t give someone else control of your competitive advantage. Saving cost won’t help you if you can’t make the daily innovations required to stay competitive.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

This risk can be mitigated by finding a customer willing to purchase as soon as a proven model is completed, and willing to state this in writing. And fifth: Competitive risk. . Will the public respond in numbers to buy, license or rent your offering?

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

For example, “I just patented a new cell-phone technology that will double battery life for half the cost. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Registered patents and other intellectual property. From an investor perspective, understanding and acting early to establish a sustainable competitive advantage, and barrier to entry, is the best assurance of a financial return.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

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. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

This risk can be mitigated by finding a customer willing to purchase as soon as a proven model is completed, and willing to state this in writing. And fifth: Competitive risk. Will the public respond in numbers to buy, license or rent your offering?

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

It’s true the some VCs have started writing so many checks that they resemble stock pickers but the majority of us still have less than 10 board seats at any time and tend to go pretty deep so the result is that we care deeply about where we commit our time. Did anybody hold patents that would prevent us from using this technology?

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

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. That''s essentially how the Tricoder competition was formed--it''s time for this to happen. Mann implantable device area.

Startup 262

Startup Competition Software Review UCLA 262

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. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Patents and Trademarks. Competition. Who do I write the check to and where do I send it? What does your pain reliever look like, how is it implemented by the customer and what future products do you expect to roll out? Distribution and Sales. How do you profitably get the pain reliever to the consumers experiencing the pain?

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 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. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2015

I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. 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. A business plan is for you first, not investors.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 105

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

"The best way to prepare [to be a programmer] is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. Bill’s advice reflects Microsoft’s hardnosed culture, which encourages internal competition and a ruthless pursuit of the truth. One Of The Most Important Startup Skills. "The " [Tweet this quote].

Tips 275

Tips Startup IP Santa Barbara 275

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2014

So before you decide to move your manufacturing, software development, or call center out of town, make sure you understand the following considerations: Dont give someone else control of your competitive advantage. Saving cost wont help you if you cant make the daily innovations required to stay competitive.

Outsource Development 95

Outsource Development Outsource Offshore Software Review 95

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Registered patents and other intellectual property. From an investor perspective, understanding and acting early to establish a sustainable competitive advantage, and barrier to entry, is the best assurance of a financial return.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Angel Social Media Patents 107

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 12, 2015

Most men in the 1940's and 50's did not know how to use a keyboard and thus could not write code. One of these bright lights is Santa Barbara-based HG Data - developers of the world's largest competitive-intelligence database. <Note:

Company 100

Company Companies Santa Barbara Education 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2016

I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. 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. A business plan is for you first, not investors.

Startup 57

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2016

So before you decide to move your manufacturing, software development, or call center out of town, make sure you understand the following considerations: Don’t give someone else control of your competitive advantage. Saving cost won’t help you if you can’t make the daily innovations required to stay competitive.

Outsource Development 53

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 53

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

Most advisors will tell you to write the business plan first (20-30 pages), then distill the key points into a set of Microsoft PowerPoint slides for standup presentations to potential investors. Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Competition and sustainable advantage. Opportunity sizing.

Slides 94

Slides Competition Sample Sales 94

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2016

Filing a provisional patent costs very little if you do it yourself, and it holds your place in line for a year. Clarify up front the potential for a conflict of interest or violation of a non-compete clause, and confirm the answer in writing. Reality check first your sizing of the opportunity, competition, and margins.

Startup 62

Startup Patents Entrepreneur Writing 62

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had seen many cycles and decided that since I was going to do it all over again I should write about it. I decided to write about my experience and to be blunt. It became a huge kerfuffle with many VC partners writing to thank me for the post, which exposed those that gave their industry a bad name. Page 3: Competition.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. It’s also the keystone to convincing investors that you have a “sustainable competitive advantage.” Register some intellectual property.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

The discipline of writing down a plan is the best way to make sure you actually understand how to transform your idea into a business. If you expect to seek investors, or you expect to have a sustainable competitive advantage against sleeping giants, you need to register all your patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets early.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Resource 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2012

The discipline of writing down a plan is the best way to make sure you actually understand how to transform your idea into a business. If you expect to seek investors, or you expect to have a sustainable competitive advantage against sleeping giants, you need to register all your patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets early.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Statistics 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. It’s also the keystone to convincing investors that you have a “sustainable competitive advantage.” Register some intellectual property.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

It was a pleasure to write them myself. We talked about patents. I brought up the fact that I find many larger companies abusing the patent system to slow down smaller competitors which is actually anti competitive. His impact has even helped a small country gain admission to the United Nations. Overture (Goto.com).

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. It’s also the keystone to convincing investors that you have a “sustainable competitive advantage.” Register some intellectual property.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2010

Have you patented it? How will the inevitable changes in markets, consumer behaviors, and competitive offerings affect outcomes? When you sit down to start working on a business plan, grab four blank sheets of paper and write the words Opportunity, Solution, Execution, and Outcomes across the top. Now, start brainstorming.

Startup 91

Startup Oracle Entrepreneur Ideas 91

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. It’s also the keystone to convincing investors that you have a “sustainable competitive advantage.” Register some intellectual property.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 3, 2015

I often write about the best strategies for startup fundraising or how to manage startup financing and optimize for growth. Whether it’s something as extensive as filing patents, more simple trademark registrations, and or putting appropriate documentation in place, don’t ignore this and don’t rely on boilerplate online templates.

Startup 40

Startup Outsource Development IP Outsource 40

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

Just as you would not ask your family physician to perform a coronary bypass, do not ask your corporate lawyer to help you write your patent application. However, you should seek a patent attorney when it is time to craft your patent application. Some companies use lawsuits as an arrow in their competitive quiver.

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

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.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Tech.Co

MARCH 1, 2018

Their platform helps couples improve their communication and interactions through their “LoveTips,” and will help support planning and executing activities such as ordering flowers and writing love notes. Tapping into a niche community is part of Quirktastic Media’s competitive advantage. The Mentor Method (Washington, D.C.).

Startup 80

Startup Mentor Platform Help 80

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

of the product, file patents, hire a small sales team and launch a marketing program to take StrongMail to market. In Silicon Valley, people are much more competitive, have more focus/experience in software backgrounds and often focus more attention on the methods first, then the results. … mistake: Pushing too hard too early.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40