Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2013

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. There is no excuse for not filing at least a provisional patent early.

Startup

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

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. Remember that ideas cannot be patented, only novel implementations. Patent attorney fees start at around $5K. Trademarks. Copyrights.

Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2011

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. Remember that ideas cannot be patented, only novel implementations. Patent attorney fees start at around $5K. Trademarks. Copyrights.

Social Media

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2010

When someone says Intellectual Property (IP), most people think only of patents. In reality, patents are only one of at least seven items that should be in your IP portfolio. Remember that ideas cannot be patented, only novel implementations. Patent attorney fees start at around $5K. Here are some specifics: Company name.

Patents

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2013

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.

Startup

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. The investor perspective is that no manufacturing or inventory implies a minimal need for capital up front.

Startup

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. The problem them was, we've got ten documents, how do we get through those.

Software Review

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2014

That''s really where the genesis of this comes from, and we have patents around the idea of continually analyzing both structure and semistructured data from a wide variety of sources, simultaneously. All of our documents were done for raising money, and it was a very simple transaction. That''s the unique nature of this technology.

Orange County

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

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. Their relentless (mostly friendly) mocking of venture capitalists and lawyers adds some welcomed levity to what can be, at times, dry subject matter.

Venture Capital

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

Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Many writers have outlined the critical success factors for product companies, like sell every unit at a profit, patent the design, and continuous product improvement. Define and document the service process you sell. You can’t measure, scale, or patent a service process that is not clearly documented.

Product

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2020

Every investor will tell you that they invest in the person, more than the product, because they have learned that people with focus find success. Documented business objectives and a timeline. It clearly takes focus to create and file a patent, but it will give you a tremendous advantage over “me too” competitors.

Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2012

Many writers have outlined the critical success factors for product companies, like sell every unit at a profit, patent the design, and continuous product improvement. Define and document the service process you sell. You can’t measure, scale, or patent a service process that is not clearly documented.

Satisfaction

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. Don’t send investors documents and notes that would be rejected by any high-school teacher. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse.

Technical Review

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2015

For example, “I have patented a new LCD with double the intensity at half the cost, already proven locally, and I just need resources to scale for this market.” For example, “Unlike all the other LCD providers, our patented high intensity light has no blue tint or glare that looks unnatural.” Come unprepared with no written documents.

Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

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. Don’t send investors documents and notes that would be rejected by any high-school teacher. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse.

Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

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. Don’t send investors documents and notes that would be rejected by any high-school teacher. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse.

Technical Review

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

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. Don’t send investors documents and notes that would be rejected by any high-school teacher. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse.

Technical Review

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”. What equity is the company willing to give in return for the investment?

Slides

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. That means they invest first in a set of plans.

Entrepreneur

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

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

I suggest you use social media, blogging, crowdfunding, or documented research to quantify a real demand from people who can afford it, and don’t have a better alternative already out there. Any startup with no patents, trade secrets, or other secret sauce is very high risk today. Make the product or service come alive.

Ideas

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

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 3, 2015

Here are three of the most common: When you’re incorporating — Business structure is an important decision with financial, investment, and tax implications. Draft appropriate policies and procedures — A good HR partner will keep you up to date with the myriad of compliance documentation you need to protect your company.

Startup

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”. What is the timeframe of return on investment? Exit strategy.

Slides

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

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. The investor perspective is that no manufacturing or inventory implies a minimal need for capital up front.

Startup

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”. What equity is the company willing to give in return for the investment?

Slides

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. That means they invest first in a set of plans.

Product

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. The investor perspective is that no manufacturing or inventory implies a minimal need for capital up front.

Services

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. That means they invest first in a set of plans.

Product

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2016

I’m not suggesting that formal legal documents are always required, but agreements without some paper or email trail are easily forgotten or misconstrued. Filing a provisional patent costs very little if you do it yourself, and it holds your place in line for a year. Reveal “secret sauce” before filing intellectual property.

Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. Show personal investment. If you have a product description, that’s necessary, but not sufficient.

Funding

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. Project revenues, costs and investment needs.

Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. Show personal investment. If you have a product description, that’s necessary, but not sufficient.

Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names. Show personal investment. If you have a product description, that’s necessary, but not sufficient.

Startup

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. The investor perspective is that no manufacturing or inventory implies a minimal need for capital up front.

Services