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

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Universities have the links you need to patent attorneys, prototyping companies, investment groups, as well as a wealth of peer talent to round out your team and share the work. Build a web site and incorporate while in school. Initiate networking to find peer partners and investors. Make a summer internship your best learning class.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2009

Now, given our current economic crisis and VC ‘challenges’, the barriers to funding have gone up significantly as well. Fantastic post by Christian Gammill - Startup Delta Force… From a competitive perspective (e.g. all the other folks out there that will try to enter the same market) the barriers have been dropping over the last few years.

Startup 150

Startup SEM IP SEO 150

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2010

Brilliant web and iPhone app design. and international patent and trademark procurement - IP Litigation - IP Licenses and Agreements: distribution, development, joint venture - Intellectual property aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Pixelgate.net (www.pixelgate.net) - Internet Access, Web Hosting, Network Services.

Southern California 113

Southern California Tech Coast Angels IP Orange County 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community.

Startup 108

Startup Invest Patents Outsource Development 108

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

Telesign provides authentication services for the largest web companies in the world. A real simple example, is someone comes to register for a particular web service, puts their name, and contact information into a site, and our clients asks them for a valid phone number. In 2011, we had two of our patents approved.

Marina Del Rey 238

Marina Del Rey Startup IP Examples 238

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

Senior business leaders, for example, are unlikely to relate when you pitch your latest web app, highlighting the mashup technology, which you derived from early online social networking applications. They become frustrated with investors, senior executives, and even customers who don’t seem to “get it,” with the result that everyone loses.

Social Network 91

Social Network Training Startup Technology 91

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Here is my list of top ten action items to best prepare you for success in achieving a funding event with Angels: Incorporate the business now. Remember the old adage that “investors fund people, not ideas.”

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

I might also be concerned about taking my idea directly to a large, well funded competitor who is know for innovation. Some resources on this: Intellectual Property is More Than Patents Does My Startup Have Intellectual Property? The reality is that Stealth is defined differently in each case. False Confidence.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 26, 2008

The firm was pitching for funding at the Technology Council of Southern California's VentureNet event earlier this month. Lisa LeVasseur: We're supplementing all phone calls with dynamically created information from the web to enrich the communications process, during, and after a phone call is made. How are you funded and backed?

VentureNet 100

VentureNet Startup Mobile Technology Council 100

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

I might also be concerned about taking my idea directly to a large, well funded competitor who is know for innovation. Some resources on this: Intellectual Property is More Than Patents Does My Startup Have Intellectual Property? The reality is that Stealth is defined differently in each case. False Confidence.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Yet according to the latest data from Gust (formerly AngelSoft), only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. Remember the old adage that “investors fund people, not ideas.” Line up an experienced team.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

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

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 4, 2016

StreamSpread helps publishers create portals on their web pages that can then be used to publish tailored digital advertisements. In June 2015, the platform managed to raise some $20 million in Venture Capital (VC) funding. Nativo works with 350 web-publishers, including the likes of Time Inc. StreamSpread.

Advertising 40

Advertising Platform Venture Capital Content 40

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

A quick message on a very busy funding day, to thanks to all of our sponsors, who make our coverage of Southern California's technology industry possible: Sponsors. Pixelgate.net (www.pixelgate.net) - Internet Access, Web Hosting, Network Services. Redpoint Ventures (www.redpoint.com). Silicon Valley Bank (www.svb.com). Register now!

Orange County 113

Orange County Southern California IP Glendale 113

socalTECH

APRIL 30, 2010

What we've done, is for authentication, we have created a way to have a unique password to give you access to a web site very time. It was funded in 2006 with about $8M in investments, and we were fortunate to have the benefit of that investment in the development of the intellectual property.

Technology 124

Technology Web Sites Orange County 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2014

Senior business leaders, for example, are unlikely to relate when you pitch your latest web app that mashes up existing technology derived from early social-networking applications. You need to address these concerns early by highlighting patents, encryption capability or other features that mitigate these risks and costs.

Customer 98

Customer Custom Technology Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community.

Startup 93

Startup Patents Outsource Development Web 93

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

To say he has had an impact on the web would be an understatement. And when I say this I don’t mean they funded billion dollar companies – they literally created them. We talked about patents. Last night I had the great privilege to interview Bill Gross , one of the Internet’s true pioneers. Shopping.com.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

socalTECH

JANUARY 28, 2009

Los Angeles-based KlickSports (www.klicksports.com) recently rolled out the firm's live sports prediction web site and game, looking to harness the enthusiasm of sports fans for their favorite sports and teams. We filed for a patent in 2000, but in 2001, when we filed for the final patent, the market tanked.

Patents 179

Patents CarsDirect Sites Pomona 179

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

I just saw an interesting step in that direction via a new book “ Entrepreneurial DNA ,” by Joe Abraham , with his assessment web site. Too many Innovators are like Dean Kamen , still struggling with the Segway Human Transporter , while holding 440 other device patents. Internal forces (your startup team).

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Mentor Framework Web 96

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

AUGUST 31, 2016

Senior business leaders, for example, are unlikely to relate when you pitch your latest web app, highlighting the mashup technology, which you derived from early online social networking applications. They become frustrated with investors, senior executives, and even customers who don’t seem to “get it,” with the result that everyone loses.

Social Network 58

Social Network Startup Training Technology 58

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2012

It also makes legal sense to never disclose the details of your patent application, before the product is ready to ship. Most startups need funding before shipping, and investors expect to see your website to validate your business plan. Openness is part of the business culture of entrepreneurs and technology centers around the world.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Startup News 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

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2010

Bill Gross is the man responsible for the overwhelming amount of monetization on the web. 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 …. Because GoTo.com was his idea.

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital Capital Google Platform 271

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Over the past 4 years LA’s tech fundings have growing at a 30% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) which is > 4 times the US average VC CAGR (7%). The patents Overture held became known in small circles as Google’s ’361 problem as outlined here. In the last full year where we have data LA attracted $1.5

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2011

It also makes legal sense to never disclose the details of your patent application, before the product is ready to ship. Most startups need funding before shipping, and investors expect to see your website to validate your business plan. Openness is part of the business culture of entrepreneurs and technology centers around the world.

Startup 101

Startup Search Engine Optimization Course Media 101

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Think about how many images are on the web. Perhaps one of the reasons it took 20 years for the commercial web to monetize images is because matching images with content is a very difficult. million dollars from some of the biggest funds (First Round Capital, NEA and GRP), is precisely because they solved such a huge problem.

Advertising 98

Advertising Santa Monica Startup Content 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2010

It also makes legal sense to never disclose the details of your patent application, before the product is ready to ship. Most startups need funding before shipping, and investors expect to see your website to validate your business plan. Openness is part of the business culture of entrepreneurs and technology centers around the world.

Startup 91

Startup Search Engine Optimization Course Media 91

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

He’d been working at a well-funded startup for about a year and had come to terms with the fact that the startup was really a pretty dumb idea. Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups - Steve Blank , May 27, 2010 Startups need to have a great lawyer, accountant, patent attorney, etc. I Be specific. It's a great talk. It’s also the wrong answer.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 20, 2012

He also architected web-based trading platforms for several investment banks. Any funding yet? Yes, we’re powered by a seed round, and funding from Start Engine LA. We’re going to have pending patents for our technology. He is passionate about developing reliable online services and structuring data. To our knowledge.

Email 63

Email CTO Hire Startup Organization 63

socalTECH

DECEMBER 3, 2008

The firm's technology--which creates a 3D, virtual avatar from digital photos--was originally developed at the University of Southern California for the CIA, and was spun out into a venture funded company targeting the consumer market. For those not familiar with BigStage, tell us what the company is doing with your avatar technology?

Entertainment 100

Entertainment Clearstone Venture Capital Media 100

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. Tempus Fugit. Folksonomy. Free product.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 18, 2013

The 3-6 month program had several hundred applications from all over the country and abroad vying for the chance of $21,000 in initial funding, office space, mentorship, and collaboration opportunities with other startups. Last year’s class has raised $15 million and is going strong. Every team has learned many lessons along the way.

Class 100

Class Startup Tech Coast Angels CTO Coach 100

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 4, 2014

She hints at closing a major $6M round (details left out) in capital intensive technology, but also notes a major difficulty she’s experienced in getting meat and potatoes technologies adequately funded because of their capital intensive nature. Government Funding and Cleantech. 2050 full utilization of local water.

UCLA 99

UCLA Technical Review Software Review Incubator 99

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 16, 2012

.” Founded in 2007 by Ravishanker and a small group of computer science graduates from the University of California, Irvine, the University of Southern California and Harvard University, CallFire has achieved just under $10 million in sales, is profitable and has built that substantial user base–all without venture funding.

Venture Capital 89

Venture Capital Cloud Computing Class Education 89