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If You Don’t Define Your Personal Brand the Market Will

Both Sides of the Table

I have long advised startup companies that if you don’t control your messaging somebody else will and your potential customers will form impressions of you shaped by somebody else or by nobody at all. I was 23 and had been programming computers, designing computer networks and selling software for 10 years. She was paid 15% more.

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Getting A Software Patent Is Valuable But Frustrating

Startup Professionals Musings

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. Patent offices can’t keep up with software technology.

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What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company?

Both Sides of the Table

This is why investors really like SaaS software companies where you have recurring revenue and your largest customer accounts for < 5% of your revenue and your renewals rates are > 90%. Many software companies have > 80% gross margins which is why they are more valuable than say traditional retailers or consumer product companies.

Startup 383
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Many Startups Stumble on International Cultures

Startup Professionals Musings

I was once asked by a top executive of a major software company why we were not selling more products in Finland. I informed him that we needed to translate the software into Finnish at a cost of $50,000. We retained legal council in Milan and were advised that we would loose if the case went to trial.

Startup 90
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International Cultures are Key Business Challenges

Startup Professionals Musings

I was once asked by a division manager of a major software company why we were not selling more products in Finland. I informed him that we needed to translate the software into Finish at a cost of $50,000. We retained legal council in Milan and were advised that we would loose if the case went to trial.

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Roping in the Legal Eagles

InfoChachkie

Yet, despite his exceptional courtroom theatrics, you would be foolhardy to hire good old Johnnie to review your software cross-licensing agreement. Your lawyer is a trusted advisor, but in the end, you run your business, your lawyer does not. Some companies use lawsuits as an arrow in their competitive quiver.

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Frank Addantes FounderBlog: Startup 5.0 – I’m just going to chill out for a bit… (OK, for a month…)

Frank Addante

StrongMail Systems (Digital Messsaging Infrastructure Software) Status: VC-backed (Sequoia Capital, Globespan and Evercore) Lesson: Trust your gut. Wireless & Voice Application Software) Exit: technology acquired Lesson: Timing is critical. Off to the Races StrongMail is a digital messaging infrastructure software company.

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