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. Write a business plan and pitch deck for learning. Initiate networking to find peer partners and investors. Learning by doing is the only way to go.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Registered patents and other intellectual property. Since your product or technology may still be in the early stages of development, the investor in actually investing in you, and your previous achievements, as much as your current startup.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

Professional investors will probe these five risk areas and make the decision to invest based upon their comfort with each. This risk can be mitigated by finding a customer willing to purchase as soon as a proven model is completed, and willing to state this in writing. And fifth: Competitive risk. .

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Registered patents and other intellectual property. Since your product or technology may still be in the early stages of development, the investor in actually investing in you, and your previous achievements, as much as your current startup.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

Professional investors will probe these five risk areas and make the decision to invest based upon comfort with each. This risk can be mitigated by finding a customer willing to purchase as soon as a proven model is completed, and willing to state this in writing. And fifth: Competitive risk.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

It’s true the some VCs have started writing so many checks that they resemble stock pickers but the majority of us still have less than 10 board seats at any time and tend to go pretty deep so the result is that we care deeply about where we commit our time. Did anybody hold patents that would prevent us from using this technology?

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

Among those funds is TYLT Lab (www.tyltlab.com), which recently announced a new, $20M early stage investment fund specifically focused on companies here. We spoke with Rami Rostami and Gerard Casale , who are behind TYLT Labs, and who told us a bit about their new fund, its investment criteria, and where it sees the promise here.

Seed Funding 220

Seed Funding Santa Monica Funding Startup 220

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Writing down key parameters will force you solidify the specifics, and mentally commit to them. Any startup with no patents, trade secrets, or other secret sauce is very high risk today. As a result, smart investors will tell you they invest in the jockey, not the horse (people, not ideas).

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

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. Project revenues, costs and investment needs. Use concrete terms to quantify value and pain.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

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. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

There is a battle between entrepreneurs who try to change the world and solve a meaningful problem and those who write take-down pieces with no apparent personal benefit other than attention. In fact, the headline of one read, “How Putting $10m into uBeam illustrates everything that is wrong with tech investing today.”

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2013

The reality is that angel investors are humans, and personal traits often make or break the relationship, even before the investment is considered. On the top line, angel investors look to invest in entrepreneurs that have an almost unwavering passion and sense of urgency. Here are some key ones they look for: Talks and writes well.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Course Patents 109

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Brad and Jason have been exposing venture capitalists’ secrets since 2005, when they began writing a blog series on Term Sheets at AskTheVC. For instance, in a section describing the ramifications of a No-Shop clause, Matt writes, “Insist on spelling out key terms prior to a signed term sheet if it has a no-shop clause in it.

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. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2012

The reality is that angel investors are humans, and personal traits often make or break the relationship, even before the investment is considered. On the top line, angel investors look to invest in entrepreneurs that have an almost unwavering passion and sense of urgency. Here are some key ones they look for: Talks and writes well.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Technical Review Course Patents 117

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. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love.

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Registered patents and other intellectual property. Since your product or technology may still be in the early stages of development, the investor in actually investing in you, and your previous achievements, as much as your current startup.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Angel Social Media Patents 107

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2010

The reality is that angel investors are humans, and personal traits often make or break the relationship, even before the investment is considered. On the top line, angel investors look to invest in entrepreneurs that have an almost unwavering passion and sense of urgency. Here are some key ones they look for: Talks and writes well.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Angel Technical Review Course 96

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had seen many cycles and decided that since I was going to do it all over again I should write about it. I decided to write about my experience and to be blunt. It became a huge kerfuffle with many VC partners writing to thank me for the post, which exposed those that gave their industry a bad name. And covered we did.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2016

Filing a provisional patent costs very little if you do it yourself, and it holds your place in line for a year. Clarify up front the potential for a conflict of interest or violation of a non-compete clause, and confirm the answer in writing. Reveal “secret sauce” before filing intellectual property. Late surprises lead to lawsuits.

Startup 62

Startup Patents Entrepreneur Writing 62

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a 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. Register some intellectual property.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

Most advisors will tell you to write the business plan first (20-30 pages), then distill the key points into a set of Microsoft PowerPoint slides for standup presentations to potential investors. Describe your technology patents and “secret sauce”. What equity is the company willing to give in return for the investment?

Slides 94

Slides Competition Sample Sales 94

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

He called me and said--this is a company you might be interested in, maybe taking a board seat, or co-investing in, or helping them get funded. In 2011, we had two of our patents approved. One of the partners, Greg Goldfarb, was really excited about Telesign. I was introduced to the founders.

Marina Del Rey 238

Marina Del Rey Startup IP Examples 238

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” I hear it when I visit LPs (the people who invest in VCs) all across the country, “Yeah, I haven’t been out there for a few years but I keep hearing that something is going on there.” The patents Overture held became known in small circles as Google’s ’361 problem as outlined here.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a 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. Register some intellectual property.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

InfoChachkie

MARCH 1, 2012

Some of the examples are patently obvious (e.g., (i) When the group was formed, George’s role was supportive with John and Paul writing and singing most of the group’s hits. Most sophisticated investors agree that the startup team is the single most important variable when evaluating a potential investment opportunity.

Tips 259

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Product 259

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a 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. Register some intellectual property.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 3, 2015

I often write about the best strategies for startup fundraising or how to manage startup financing and optimize for growth. Here are three of the most common: When you’re incorporating — Business structure is an important decision with financial, investment, and tax implications. And relying on NDAs is not the answer.

Startup 40

Startup Outsource Development IP Outsource 40

socalTECH

APRIL 30, 2010

Plus, there's always shoulder surfing--when people write them down, and are grabbing for your daytimer or spreadsheet for passwords--that's treating passwords like it's the 1950's, and leaving your front door key under a door mat. We also assumed over 50 pending patents, from ten different patent families.

Technology 124

Technology Web Sites Orange County 124

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 11, 2012

The multi-tiered platform allows for money to be transferred between Facebook friends, the ability to click and purchase any item that you see on Facebook and through the published API’s, developers can integrate and write their own applications on top of the ZunguZ platform. Omidyar Networks – head of investment. Why the name?

Software Review 92

Software Review Social Network Platform Technical Review 92

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a 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. Register some intellectual property.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

If you are charged for every nanosecond you spend with your lawyer, consider finding one who is willing to “invest” more aggressively in your success. Just as you would not ask your family physician to perform a coronary bypass, do not ask your corporate lawyer to help you write your patent application.

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2010

Have you patented it? How much investment capital will you need to pull this off? When you sit down to start working on a business plan, grab four blank sheets of paper and write the words Opportunity, Solution, Execution, and Outcomes across the top. How does it work, and how does it solve the problem? Now, start brainstorming.

Startup 91

Startup Oracle Entrepreneur Ideas 91

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. Professional investors and even customers invest in people, rather than just a product.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

It was a pleasure to write them myself. We talked about patents. Bill doesn’t think you should over invest in them but he does believe in protecting ideas when you have a true invention and many of his companies have done so. His impact has even helped a small country gain admission to the United Nations.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

► August (1) Invest in Transparency & Active Communication ► July (1) The Fear of Success ► May (2) Optimized for Speed = 30% Waste Happy 1st Birthday Rubicon Project! We invested the first $1 million to develop version 1.0 ► October (1) New Video! the Rubicon Project's Secret to Succes.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40