Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2021

Every technical entrepreneur is an early adopter of technology, so naturally they build things with people like themselves in mind. Unfortunately, for most solution markets, early adopters represent only 10 to 15 percent of the total opportunity, so it’s easy to get mislead on the real requirements of mainstream customers.

Customer 117

Customer Custom Technical Review Product 117

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2014

Every technical entrepreneur is an early adopter of technology, so naturally they build things with people like themselves in mind. Unfortunately, for most solution markets, early adopters represent only 10 to 15 percent of the total opportunity, so it’s easy to get mislead on the real requirements of mainstream customers.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup News 103

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

I think this is a combination of being realists as venture capitalists that outsized returns in our funds must come from taking on bigger, more impactful projects that can move markets. The practical uses for uBeam technology is limitless. Did anybody hold patents that would prevent us from using this technology?

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. I usually envision a 50-50 ownership split for their efforts, but every engineer believes the technology side deserves the majority share. Fabulous solutions require great technology.

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Patents Entrepreneur Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2023

Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is a full tutorial on your new disruptive technology. Investors are more interested in your solution and your business, rather than your technology. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point.

Slides 147

Slides Funding Technical Review Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2018

Every technical entrepreneur is an early adopter of technology, so naturally they build things with people like themselves in mind. Unfortunately, for most solution markets, early adopters represent only 10 to 15 percent of the total opportunity, so it’s easy to get mislead on the real requirements of mainstream customers.

Technical Review 96

Technical Review News Customer Custom 96

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2016

Every technical entrepreneur is an early adopter of technology, so naturally they build things with people like themselves in mind. Unfortunately, for most solution markets, early adopters represent only 10 to 15 percent of the total opportunity, so it’s easy to get mislead on the real requirements of mainstream customers.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Technical Review News 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

That doesn’t mean that entrepreneurs should ignore business and market realities, under the assumption that success is a random phenomenon. These days, you can find existing patents and trademarks through Google and the US Patent Office online site without spending thousands of dollars with your favorite patent attorney.

Ideas 83

Ideas Technical Review Patents Startup 83

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

The press around the raise & company was fantastic and the promise of their technology – wireless charging that works as easily as WiFi – would positively affect many of our lives. uBeam’s tech does work and I have safely seen it demo’d in the real life many times. Working on it. And being ambitious.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

Patents held by startups generally have a limited ability to reduce competition. The average time required to obtain a patent is 36-to-40 months, during which there is no guarantee your adVenture will ultimately receive patent protection. Even if you are granted a patent, the scope of your claims may be significantly denuded.

IP 256

IP Patents Company Companies 256

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

That doesn’t mean that entrepreneurs should ignore business and market realities, under the assumption that success is a random phenomenon. These days, you can find existing patents and trademarks through Google and the US Patent Office online site without spending thousands of dollars with your favorite patent attorney.

Ideas 106

Ideas Entrepreneur Technical Review Patents 106

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

A few months ago we saw a CEO present who had personally made hundreds of millions of dollars in a financial services business and had a plan to capitalize on the current market conditions. We were super excited by their offering – they had patented technology in a field that we believe will continue to grow massively.

Technical Review 284

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Funding 284

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2015

Professional investors and advisors, on the other hand, usually refuse to sign these agreements today due to the risk of litigation and administrative workload, and will walk away. Disclosures relative to patents. Potential investors don’t need this data, except perhaps as part of a final due diligence after agreement on terms.

Ideas 106

Ideas Technical Review Patents Entrepreneur 106

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2020

Every year, we feature the year end reflections of founders, CEOs, investors, and others in Southern California's high tech community. It's been a tough year for many due to the pandemic; how have you or your company adapted to the business environment? This is my 4th market upset and in the first three I was defensive.

Southern California 113

Southern California Technical Review Santa Monica Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

Despite some recent advances, there are still some cultures which have less regard for patents and other intellectual property. Leading edge technology software and manufacturing require constant course corrections and iterative restarts. Don’t count on contracts and non-disclosure agreements to save you.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2017

They seem shocked to learn that most professional investors and advisors, myself included, routinely decline such requests, due to costly litigation and administrative nightmares. Get an NDA before detailed patent disclosures. Some entrepreneurs avoid the patent process, since patent details become public once a patent is issued.

Technical Review 61

Technical Review Patents Ideas Social Media 61

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2020

Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is a full tutorial on your new disruptive technology. Investors are more interested in your solution and your business, rather than your technology. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point.

Startup 118

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 118

socalTECH

AUGUST 18, 2017

For the first time, in a long time, traffic deaths and crashes are rising, due to drunk and drugged driving. How did the company and its technology come about? They set aside what they were working on, and started working on bringing this technology to law enforcement. How big of a market is there for all of this?

Pasadena Angels 100

Pasadena Angels Pasadena Technical Review Southern California 100

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Too Techie - Tone down emphasis on the technology underlying your venture; an interested investor will perform tech diligence at the appropriate time. Clearly define the addressable market for your pain reliever, which is a subset of the total number of people who are feeling the pain; the total market size is not relevant.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 8, 2012

Building a strong tech industry to rival that of Silicon Valley is definitely no easy feat, but the overall feeling within Cal Tech’s Baxter Hall at last week’s event certainly bodes well for the year. Crowd Seats came up first to give their two minute breakdown of the company.

Technical Review 94

Technical Review Idealab Startup Mobile 94

socalTECH

JULY 31, 2013

One of the companies that has recently is On Ramp Wireless (www.onrampwireless.com), a San Diego company in the M2M market headed by Kevin Hell. The firm recently raised a $15M series C funding, and we caught up with Kevin to learn more about why its customers, and investors, are interested in its technology.

Technical Review 213

Technical Review Software Review Networking Technology 213

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Thus, I’m more impressed with entrepreneurs who ask me to review their implementation plan, rather than listen again to their idea. Some dreams sound great, but may not yet be viable or proven with today’s technology. Any startup with no patents, trade secrets, or other secret sauce is very high risk today.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Xconomy

AUGUST 19, 2016

All those years of hard work to reach the promised land, then just as a drug owner is ready to spike it home and take a victory lap, the FDA’s hands rise over the net… OK, it’s not a perfect analogy, but it’s better than comparing the patent fight over the gene editing system CRISPR-Cas9 to table tennis. (Be

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Patents .Net Study 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

As a model, think high-quality marketing collateral, with text and graphics in columns and sidebars, but focused on the value of your business, rather than selling your product. Skip the fuzzy marketing terms, such as "easier to use," "lower cost" and "disruptive technology."

Summary 101

Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2013

Convincingly presents a patent, trademark, or other “secret sauce” that can create equity value, not just current cash flow for the owners. Allows sufficient time to find capital, including due diligence time for investors. The technology or product may be at an embryonic stage. Values intellectual property.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Course Patents 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2012

Convincingly presents a patent, trademark, or other “secret sauce” that can create equity value, not just current cash flow for the owners. Allows sufficient time to find capital, including due diligence time for investors. The technology or product may be at an embryonic stage. Values intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Technical Review Course Patents 117

socalTECH

AUGUST 18, 2009

In the recent surge in interest in the clean technology and energy investment area, we're constantly surprised by the number of startups in the area focused on some aspect of the industry. Let's start on the technology side--can you tell us about the technology, and its origins? It's very simple, from the technical perspective.

UCLA 159

UCLA Technical Review El Monte Startup 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2015

Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is a full tutorial on your new disruptive technology. Investors are more interested in your solution and your business, rather than your technology. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point.

Slides 105

Slides Technical Review Startup Research 105

socalTECH

JUNE 23, 2009

Semiconductor startups seem to be quite rare in today's environment, with few companies being funded or launched, due both to the difficulty of bringing products to market, lack of investment capital, as well as lots of established, large companies in the industry. For starters, let's talk about your technology.

Patents 100

Patents Sample Technical Review Pricing 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

It is a truism that with more capital you will hire people more quickly and spend more liberally whether it’s on external contractors, PR firms, attending events, doing legal work (trademarks, patents) or whatever. You will build out features or expend to platforms — often before you have enough market feedback to warrant it.

Startup 292

Startup Software Review Pricing Entrepreneur 292

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2014

Despite some recent advances, there are still some cultures which have less regard for patents and other intellectual property. Leading edge technology software and manufacturing require constant course corrections and iterative restarts. Dont count on contracts and non-disclosure agreements to save you.

Outsource Development 95

Outsource Development Outsource Offshore Software Review 95

socalTECH

AUGUST 4, 2015

We caught up with Mike recently to better understand the company's technology, why there's an interest in energy storage by utilities, and more about that deployment. Can you talk about your technology? We have a lot in common in terms of those air conditioners and even the technology, but our product is different in an important way.

Southern California 100

Southern California Technical Review Demand Outsource Development 100

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2011

We're not talking publicly about that yet, but the idea is to get away from the annual review, away from the quarterly review, and give everyone within and outside a company the ability to recognize people, up and down the chain, for doing great things in the workplace. There's a fairly complex platform we've patented.

Startup 216

Startup Technical Review Software Review Platform 216

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2010

Convincingly presents a patent, trademark, or other “secret sauce” that can create equity value, not just current cash flow for the owners. Allows sufficient time to find capital, including due diligence time for investors. The technology or product may be at an embryonic stage. Values intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Angel Technical Review Course 96

socalTECH

MARCH 16, 2010

Earlier this month, Azusa-based CFX Battery , a stealthy battery technology spinout from Caltech, announced it had raised a new round of funding worth $14.2M. This week, the firm announced that it was renaming itself Contour Energy (www.contourenergy.com)--and said it was ready to talk about what its battery technology is all about.

CalTech 168

CalTech Technical Review Azusa Venture Capital 168

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

PT as they kick off the new weekly tech law show "TechZulu Law" with a discussion with IP attorney Denise Grayson, who portrays the attorney of Eduardo Saverin in the film about the early days of Facebook, "The Social Network.". The show focuses on legal issues surrounding startups, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and emerging technology.

IP 81

IP Social Network Technical Review Networking 81

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2013

Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is an extended pitch on your new disruptive technology. Investors are more interested in your solution and your business, rather than your technology. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point.

Angel 102

Angel Funding Slides Technical Review 102