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. Start with a service you know and love. Don’t let your service be viewed as a commodity.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

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. Start with a service you know and love. Don’t let your service be viewed as a commodity.

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2019

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. He or she will assume your comment means there is no market for your product or service, or you haven’t looked. Neither speaks well for you or your startup.

Competition 120

Competition Patents Resource Invest 120

Berkonomics

MAY 8, 2014

The company has been funded entirely by grants from the National Institute of Health, amounting to millions of non-dilutive dollars in all. I am chairman of a company that, as I write this, is twelve years old and has not yet taken a dollar of outside investment. And often, grants come with detailed accounting and reporting requirements.

Company 166

Company Companies Writing Education 166

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2023

According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Startup 171

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 171

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

Features, availability, and brand are just the price of entry. In many cases, growing the ecosystem is so important that your best competitive move may be to invest in facilitating “competition,” such as Tesla Motors giving away their battery patents to other auto providers, without royalties, to build the ecosystem.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Customer 142

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

Ask some potential customers to see if there is real interest, and start thinking about price versus cost. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks. Pitching” is the insider term for presenting your product idea to people who could conceivably buy it or fund your efforts. Keep thieves away (protect it).

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2015

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. He or she will assume your comment means there is no market for your product or service, or you haven’t looked. Neither speaks well for you or your startup.

Startup 118

Startup Competition Patents Resource 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2014

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. He or she will assume your comment means there is no market for your product or service, or you haven’t looked. Neither speaks well for you or your startup.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Competition Patents Resource 110

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2010

and international patent and trademark procurement - IP Litigation - IP Licenses and Agreements: distribution, development, joint venture - Intellectual property aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Joyent - An Enterprise Class Cloud Computing Company funded by Intel Capital, provides the most comprehensive cloud solution available today.

Southern California 113

Southern California Tech Coast Angels IP Orange County 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2018

According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Guide 95

Guide Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2018

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. He or she will assume your comment means there is no market for your product or service, or you haven’t looked. Neither speaks well for you or your startup.

Competition 51

Competition Patents Resource Entrepreneur 51

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2010

We recently ran into Dave Compton , Chairman and CEO of Ventura-based NetPlenish.com (www.netplenish.com), a early stage startup working on a service which will automatically re-order items for consumers. Dave gave us an overview of the service and what it hopes to do. Are you funded yet? What is NetPlenish? Dave Compton: Right.

Compton 138

Compton Ventura Startup IP 138

Xconomy

JUNE 3, 2016

Merck also saw some expected fruits of its 2014 big-ticket acquisition of Cubist Pharmaceuticals wither away this week, as the Supreme Court wouldn’t reverse a decision that shaved years off the patent life of the top-selling antibiotic daptomyicin (Cubicin). ” The project leaders are seeking $100 million in funding.

San Diego 62

San Diego Patents Acquisition News 62

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2016

According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Startup 103

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 103

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Investors are looking for a concise description of your product or service without technical jargon or fuzzy marketing terms with value quantified in customer terms. This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition. What is your specific solution and value proposition?

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

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. Price – I am cheapskate. The hardcopy list price of $49.95

Venture Capital 205

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Writing Guide 205

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2013

Even in an open space, you need intellectual property, like patents, to keep potential competitors from overrunning you. The selection of an inappropriate pricing, marketing, or distribution strategy is a large potential risk. These include food service, retail, consulting, work at home, and telemarketing. Financial risk.

Startup 104

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Social Network 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

Unfortunately, customers look for value in solving their problem, and new technologies alone scare them, so these solutions don’t get bought by customers, or funded. Business model showing costs, pricing, and margins. In reality, there isn’t much overlap between the business pitch I expect, versus a product pitch.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

The value is tied to infrastructure outside your control, such as a pervasive network of fuel stations, trained service facilities, and new government regulations. Investors expect proof that your invention can be manufactured in volume, and can justify a sales price at least double the cost, to a large customer set that has money to spend.

Technical Review 156

Technical Review Funding Patents Ideas 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2012

Even in an open space, you need intellectual property, like patents, to keep potential competitors from overrunning you. The selection of an inappropriate pricing, marketing, or distribution strategy is a large potential risk. These include food service, retail, consulting, work at home, and telemarketing. Financial risk.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Examples Social Network Marketing 108

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2015

Ask some potential customers to see if there is real interest, and start thinking about price versus cost. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks. Pitching” is the insider term for presenting your product idea to people who could conceivably buy it or fund your efforts. Keep thieves away (protect it).

Ideas 104

Ideas Mentor Resource Entrepreneur 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2013

According to a recent MIT study , only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Startup 105

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2014

Ask some potential customers to see if there is real interest, and start thinking about price versus cost. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks. Pitching” is the insider term for presenting your product idea to people who could conceivably buy it or fund your efforts. Keep thieves away (protect it).

Ideas 107

Ideas Mentor Entrepreneur Resource 107

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

Mann had long sold the company and patents, but one of their providers which had been installing them surgically, and had started installing parts from China. Unfortunately, those providers decided the gold leads were expensive, and decided to use a Chinese vendor which would provide them at half price.

Startup 262

Startup Competition Software Review UCLA 262

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2017

Ask some potential customers to see if there is real interest, and start thinking about price versus cost. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks. Pitching” is the insider term for presenting your product idea to people who could conceivably buy it or fund your efforts. Keep thieves away (protect it).

Ideas 56

Ideas Mentor Resource Product 56

socalTECH

MARCH 15, 2013

Nils Forsblom is not new to the startup world -- in fact, his last startup, Fruugo, raised an astounding $48M in funding, and became one of the most heralded-- and controversial --startups in Finland. We have a couple of different ideas in the pipeline, and have filed patents in our unique way of showing advertising on a very small screen.

Mobile 233

Mobile Southern California Startup Outsource Development 233

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. 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

JANUARY 30, 2012

According to a recent MIT study , only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Competition 94

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2010

(plus a large settlement on patent disputes paid from Google) so Bill did well on it. Especially when he’s surrounded by Danny Rimer (who funded Skype, MySQL, Last.FM PLUS RELATED FUNDING …. Stitcher - San Francisco-based service that lets users customize talk radio programming on their mobile devices. OTHER STUFF.

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital Capital Google Platform 271

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

Even in an open space, you need intellectual property, like patents, to keep potential competitors from overrunning you. The selection of an inappropriate pricing, marketing, or distribution strategy is a large potential risk. These include food service, retail, consulting, work at home, and telemarketing. Financial risk.

Startup 89

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Social Network 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. 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

socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2009

It seems that every week, a new, Voice-over-IP provider firm surfaces in the market, either providing PBX services, voicemail, or other similar services. What is your VoIP service all about, and how is this different from what seems to be lots of Voice over IP service providers?

IP 165

IP Pasadena Angels Pasadena Los Angeles 165

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Every investor expects to see some traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

socalTECH

MARCH 9, 2015

Since then, we''ve been very busy staffing up the company, finishing our product, and getting it into production, and also have raised a Series A funding. What''s unique about the MOD-t, is we have a patent pending motion system for two of our 3 axis of motion. We launched on Indiegogo for about sixty days.

Idealab 100

Idealab Design Product Ideas 100