Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

Since this document is outward facing, it is important to keep the terminology and tone consistent with that of your customer set, investors, and business partners. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks. Provide details on the business model.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. Don’t send investors documents and notes that would be rejected by any high-school teacher. It’s always impressive to have stand-alone supporting documents for product specifications, sales plan details, and backup financial reports.

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

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.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

This is a fancy title for a personnel manager in a large corporation who keeps track of all the hiring and firing, and has a staff to build job descriptions and personnel policy documents. If your business is managing contracts and patents, it makes sense, but the CLO for most startups is LegalZoom on the Internet. Chief Legal Officer.

CTO Hire 100

CTO Hire Funding Cloud Computing CIO 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2011

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a founder agreement at the beginning. Disclosing inventions before the patent application is filed. Entrepreneurs often put off the hassle and the cost of filing a patent until first funding. Founders ignore non-compete clauses from former employers.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Patents Invest Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

Thus the real discussion must start with who will be doing the work, providing the funding, and delivering results. Key to required patents or trade secrets. In many cases, one of the co-founders may bring some work in progress that can be patented, trademarked, or copyrighted. Amount of venture funding provided.

Equity 95

Equity Patents CTO Hire Startup 95

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. Don’t send investors documents and notes that would be rejected by any high-school teacher. It’s always impressive to have stand-alone supporting documents for product specifications, sales plan details, and backup financial reports.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Statistics Startup Social Media 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2020

Yet if that leaves you with no documented business plan or unclear strategy, most investors and even customers will walk away. There are complex processes, like filing a patent, and financial tools that may be new to you, including Excel and Quickbooks. Prioritize your tasks ahead of helping others with theirs.

Product 123

Product Startup Tips Entrepreneur 123

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Since this document is outward facing, it is important to keep the terminology and tone consistent with that of your customer set, investors, and business partners. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks. Provide details on the business model.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018

If you are one of the thousands of entrepreneurs who need equity funding to get your startup going (no loans to repay), you are probably overwhelmed at the prospect of finding, contacting and pitching to the huge number of qualified angels and investment groups around the country. File a provisional patent or other intellectual property.

Platform 94

Platform Equity Invest Technical Advisors 94

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2014

Thus the real discussion must start with who will be doing the work, providing the funding and delivering results. Key to required patents or trade secrets. In many cases, one of the co-founders may bring some work in progress that can be patented, trademarked or copyrighted. Amount of venture funding provided.

Equity 104

Equity Patents Startup CTO Hire 104

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Since this document is outward facing, it is important to keep the terminology and tone consistent with that of your customer set, investors, and business partners. For example, “I just patented a new cell-phone technology that will double battery life for half the cost. The details can be added later. Skip the acronyms and jargon.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

Thus the real discussion must start with who will be doing the work, providing the funding, and delivering results. Key to required patents or trade secrets. In many cases, one of the co-founders may bring some work in progress that can be patented, trademarked, or copyrighted. Amount of venture funding provided.

Equity 62

Equity Startup Patents CTO Hire 62

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2010

Here are some examples: Failure to document a founder agreement at the beginning. Disclosing inventions before the patent application is filed. Entrepreneurs often put off the hassle and the cost of filing a patent until first funding. There is no excuse for not filing at least a provisional patent early.

Startup 50

Startup Patents Entrepreneur Invest 50

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2017

A strong work ethic is great, but patents and intellectual property are critical. What works is a documented change request process, as well as quantification of resources and incremental return. Is your business plan complete and documented? Do you have a model to predict funding requirements?

Metrics 58

Metrics Resource Startup Training 58

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.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had intended to talk about how bad the process could become, not to name-and-shame anybody (and The Funded was not yet around). So for anybody who has been through the funding process before I hope that this will resonate and for those that haven’t I hope it will be interesting. Prepare to give your pitch in 30 including Q&A.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

The approach I recommend is to build the investor presentation first, by iterating on the bullets with your team, and then fleshing out the points into a full-blown text-based business plan document. Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Funding requirements and use of funds. Opportunity sizing.

Slides 99

Slides Competition Sample Sales 99

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Language Weaver is backed by Palisades Ventures, the Tech Coast Angels, and The Athenaeum Fund. 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.

Software Review 145

Software Review USC Content Tech Coast Angels 145

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Attitude – Brad and Jason clearly exhibit an entrepreneur-centric approach to the venture funding process. Examples – The book is filled with text excerpted from actual funding documents, rather than the generic templates usually found in academic textbooks. Don’t Overemphasize Patents. What Not To Do. No Often Means No.

Venture Capital 205

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Writing Guide 205

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.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

The approach I recommend is to build the investor presentation first, by iterating on the bullets with your team, and then fleshing out the points into a full-blown text-based business plan document. Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Funding requirements and use of funds. Opportunity sizing.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2016

In fact, investors recognize that founders usually learn more from mistakes than from success, so a well-explained startup failure can improve their odds of funding the next time around. You need patents and trademarks as a barrier to entry. However, investors do expect you know the common pitfalls -- and not repeat them.

Startup 59

Startup Training Entrepreneur Customer 59

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

Since this document is outward facing, it is important to keep the terminology and tone consistent with that of your customer set, investors, and business partners. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks. Provide details on the business model.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

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.

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 3, 2015

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. And relying on NDAs is not the answer. Accounting and Finance Support.

Startup 40

Startup Outsource Development IP Outsource 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

An alternative approach, which I prefer, is to build the investor presentation first, by iterating on the bullets with your team, and then fleshing out the points into a full-blown text-based business plan document. Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Funding requirements and use of funds. Exit strategy.

Slides 94

Slides Competition Sample Sales 94

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 24, 2021

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. You need all these before you start looking for funding. Remember that ideas cannot be patented, only novel implementations. Copyrights.

Startup 145

Startup Patents IP Social Media 145

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2016

Since this document is outward facing, it is important to keep the terminology and tone consistent with that of your customer set, investors, and business partners. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks. Provide details on the business model.

Product 55

Product Startup Summary Entrepreneur 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Every investor expects to see some traction, both before and after a funding event. Here are some tips which will signal traction to investors, as well as your team: Document your business plan. By using a laser focused approach for the first iteration, you may actually produce something and get a customer without funding.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

For example, “We just patented a new battery technology that will cut your smartphone charge time and cost in half.” Call out your top competitors, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantage, including patents, trade secrets. Document why your team is the best for this challenge. and trademarks.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2019

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. You need all these before you start looking for funding. Remember that ideas cannot be patented, only novel implementations. Copyrights.

IP 93

IP Invest Patents Social Media 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2017

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. You need all these before you start looking for funding. Remember that ideas cannot be patented, only novel implementations. Copyrights.

Startup 69

Startup Patents IP Social Media 69

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

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. You need all these before you start looking for funding. Remember that ideas cannot be patented, only novel implementations. Trademarks.

Startup 103

Startup Patents IP Social Media 103

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2023

But not many of us have enough savings to live for a year or more without a salary, fund the startup, and still feed the family. On the other hand, if you have a new technology, with patent applied for, maybe you more time to get it right. You can’t move fast enough on a part-time basis to win in these areas.

Startup 110

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Metrics 110