Berkonomics

DECEMBER 20, 2018

So here goes: How would I find companies willing to license my intellectual property or to invest in a royalty stream from licenses? Investment banker? These are your candidates, because they are companies already absorbing much or all the marketing expense necessary to make sales of your invention. Would I hire a broker?

IP 120

IP Product Equity Tool 120

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

The question to study in your board meeting long before making any offer to purchase a candidate business is: “Would this acquisition add significantly to our enterprise value and attractiveness in an eventual sale?”. After all, we are in business usually for the ultimate return we will someday receive from our investment.

Company 120

Company Companies Acquisition Resource 120

Berkonomics

MAY 8, 2014

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. The company has been funded entirely by grants from the National Institute of Health, amounting to millions of non-dilutive dollars in all.

Company 166

Company Companies Writing Education 166

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks. Marty Zwilling

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. It’s why most investors proclaim that they invest in people, more than the idea. Social media is not rocket science. The timing of cash flow is everything.

Search Engine Optimization 103

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 103

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2017

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. And we were able to secure that investment along with a partner from that firm joining our board. All investors, including the VC firm, lost everything.

Venture Capital 243

Venture Capital Product Resource Marketing 243

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2013

Chief Sales Officer (VP Sales). What you really need is a VP of Marketing and Customer Development, who can help with lead generation and honing the message, rather than an executive to manage a sales team and existing customers. See this anecdote by Steve Blank on how a hotshot sales executive can sink your startup.

Startup 97

Startup Invest CTO Hire Cloud Computing 97

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 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

Customers today quickly get beyond these, and put a competitive priority on the experience of others, reflected in reviews and social media, and their own total experience with your sales process, delivery, returns, and support on their schedule. Find funders who seek long-term returns. Money-making is different in the digital age.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Customer 142

socalTECH

OCTOBER 22, 2020

Earlier this week, Good Growth Capital (www.goodgrowthvc.com) announced it has started looking at investments in Southern California, adding Krisztina Holly as West Coast Venture Partner for the firm. What kinds of areas does the fund make investments in? We've never not gotten into a deal that we wanted to invest in.

Southern California 124

Southern California Capital Technical Review Startup 124

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

The same is true for filing patents, registering trademarks, and filing copyrights. Social media facilitates marketing and sales. Minimize investment in prototypes and tooling. Setting up the business as an LLC or C-corporation can now be done online with low registration fees and minimal risk.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

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 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. It’s why most investors proclaim that they invest in people, more than the idea. Social media is not rocket science. The timing of cash flow is everything.

Search Engine Optimization 124

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

I recommend a ten-slide pitch to start, reviewed by friends and advisors, to be expanded to a ten-to-twenty-page business plan with opportunity sizing, cost and price details, competitors, marketing and sales strategy, financial projections, and resources required. Make sure your solution is defensible and unique.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse. It’s always impressive to have stand-alone supporting documents for product specifications, sales plan details, and backup financial reports.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Startup Statistics Social Media 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks. Relevant questions include the type of business entity (LLC or C-Corp), licensing or manufacturing, sales and marketing, and staffing. Investors learned this a long time ago, so most will tell you that they invest in people, not ideas. Keep thieves away (protect it).

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

This implies high odds of a scalable business, simply needing an investment to lead to success. Potential investors love to see gross margins in the fifty percent range or greater, with recurring revenue through subscriptions, follow-on sales, or services. Customized marketing strategy and realistic sales plans.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Xconomy

JULY 5, 2016

According to OrthoWorx, a community-industry partnership in the global orthopedic sector, the cluster of orthopedic businesses in Warsaw has more than $11 billion in annual sales, which is almost one-third of the industry’s world sales volume.

Patents 67

Patents Research Anthem Education 67

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2012

I had probably spent eight months perfecting the product, and getting the design where it needed to be, and all patents filed. I'd already done hundreds of iterations of the design before we ever launched on Kickstarter, and I invested a lot of money in getting it ready for the Kickstarter phase. Patrick O'Neill.

Patents 191

Patents Ideas Design Startup 191

Xconomy

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

—Oral arguments in the landmark patent fight over ownership of the gene editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 were set for Dec. Patent and Trademark Office. —Despite the patent fight, CRISPR work continues apace. —Despite the patent fight, CRISPR work continues apace. billion in yearly sales.

Patents 87

Patents Study Pricing Research 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2015

Skip the sales pitch and avoid preaching. 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.”

Startup 104

Startup Summary Patents Examples 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse. 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

AUGUST 12, 2015

Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the key to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. They benchmark their ideas against competition, use metrics to track acceptance, sales growth, and return on investment. Business risks are not just development risks. Value creation. Accountability.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

socalTECH

JULY 31, 2013

We''re reducing the cost at the access point level and at the endpoint level, and continuing to invest to bring our cost points down. In addition, we''ll be using those funds for sales and marketing, to go into new verticals and new markets, and to build our sales and marketing team.

Technical Review 213

Technical Review Software Review Networking Technology 213

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. It’s why most investors proclaim that they invest in people, more than the idea. Social media is not rocket science. The timing of cash flow is everything.

Startup 89

Startup Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 89

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Marketing, sales, and partners. Describe marketing strategy, sales plan, licensing, and partnership plans. What equity is the company willing to give in return for the investment? What is the timeframe of return on investment? Opportunity sizing. Exit strategy.

Slides 99

Slides Competition Sample Sales 99

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. It’s why most investors proclaim that they invest in people, more than the idea. Social media is not rocket science. The timing of cash flow is everything.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

The founders now need a $1M Angel investment to do the marketing for a national NewCo rollout, build a team to manage the rollout, and maybe even pay themselves a salary. The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage. Early customers and contracts in progress add value.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Patents Outsource Development 98

Berkonomics

MARCH 30, 2010

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. There is an art to efficient management of a process, whether that is the process of bringing a product to market from R&D to production or developing a new product’s launch program.

Venture Capital 212

Venture Capital Product Resource Marketing 212

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

For example, “I just patented a new cell-phone technology that will double battery life for half the cost. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks. Marketing, sales, and customer experience. Project revenues, costs and investment needs.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 30, 2012

Although their book is written for businesses of all sizes, I believe the principles apply especially to startups as follows: Increase return on equity invested. The first purpose of a strategy is to organize and reallocate your resources to increase return on the amount of money invested in your startup to-date. Scalability.

Startup 99

Startup Competition IP Patents 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. Marketing, sales, and partners. Describe marketing strategy, sales plan, licensing, and partnership plans. What equity is the company willing to give in return for the investment? What is the timeframe of return on investment? Opportunity sizing. Exit strategy.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2012

It was a series of different technologies we had ot develop and apply for patents on, and now that we have it, we're working on a prototype. Because we want to get into production, marketing, and sales, right now we're listing on Fundable.com.

Startup 252

Startup Sites Patents Outsource Development 252

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. It’s why most investors proclaim that they invest in people, more than the idea. Social media is not rocket science. The timing of cashflow is everything.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2016

The best differentiation is a patent or other intellectual property that also provides a barrier to entry. Investors look for sales at full price, to people you don’t know, to validate demand, price, and margin. Show an aggressive marketing and sales plan. This is why investors invest in the team, rather than the idea.

Entrepreneur 58

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

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72