Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

Any new enterprise is at risk if there are not enough resources to get the company to breakeven, which is a proxy for stability. And fifth: Competitive risk. . The lesson: Reduction or elimination of one or more of these risks increases the valuation of the company and certainly improves its chances of survival and growth.

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

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. Indeed, there are some success factors that are common to both environments. Are you ready to make it happen?

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. As an example of a good resource, I enjoyed the classic book, “ Idea To Invention ,” by Patricia Nolan-Brown, that does a great job on the key steps. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks.

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

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. First-movers have an initial advantage, but this position is fraught with risk, and often comes with a high price. Grab the next-mover advantage.

Startup 171

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 171

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

It’s important to learn from your own mistakes, but it’s even smarter to learn from someone else’s mistakes, without paying their high price in time lost, cost, and pain. Patents and trademarks are very valuable in attracting investors for scaling, as well as future premium buyouts. Willing to start today and find resources later.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

The same is true for filing patents, registering trademarks, and filing copyrights. For example, if you have no technical background, you probably can’t create or sell an enterprise software product for a low price, even today. Required legal fees now average $5K or less, compared with $20K or more as a minimum.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

There are lots of resources available for the challenge of that activity, including the Internet and mentors like me. Unfortunately, I see good startups fail simply because they don’t have the resources or intellectual property to stay ahead of copycats or big players who see the potential as soon as you step into the marketplace.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

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. Indeed, there are some success factors that are common to both environments. Are you ready to make it happen?

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2017

Many of the start-ups my various angel funds have financed died a slow death, not because of poor concept but because of poor execution, wasting fixed overhead and draining the financial resources from the company coffers. And professional investors often penalize the company with lower-priced down rounds or expensive loans as a result.

Venture Capital 243

Venture Capital Product Resource Marketing 243

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

Any new enterprise is at risk if there are not enough resources to get the company to breakeven, which is a proxy for stability. And fifth: Competitive risk. Reduction or elimination of one or more of these risks increases the valuation of the company and certainly improves its chances of survival and growth.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

It’s important to learn from your own mistakes, but it’s even smarter to learn from someone else’s mistakes, without paying their high price in time lost, cost, and pain. Patents and trademarks are very valuable in attracting investors for scaling, as well as future premium buyouts. Willing to start today and find resources later.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

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

AUGUST 2, 2015

A strong answer should be something like “Our product introduces a new lower-cost technology, which we have patented and trademarked, that makes us very attractive today, and will provide a wealth of additional products as we move forward.” The problem is that startups have limited resources to keep them ahead of big companies.

Startup 118

Startup Competition Patents Resource 118

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

Reflexively founders want to raise as much money as they can because they figure it will give them more resources, better chances of competing and a longer runways before they have to do the often painful job of asking, yet again, for money. Amongst the most often asked questions I get from founders is, “How much money should I raise?”

Startup 292

Startup Software Review Pricing Entrepreneur 292

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2014

A strong answer should be something like “Our product introduces a new lower-cost technology, which we have patented and trademarked, that makes us very attractive today, and will provide a wealth of additional products as we move forward.” The problem is that startups have limited resources to keep them ahead of big companies.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Competition Patents Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

His challenge is to focus on one market, with a specific design, cost, and price. Then, he'll need to patent it and create a plan to show opportunity, competition, and financial projections. Finally, implementation requires a commitment of real money and other resources that can’t be written off so easily as an idea ahead of it’s time.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2018

A strong answer should be something like “Our product introduces a new lower-cost technology, which we have patented and trademarked, that makes us very attractive today, and will provide a wealth of additional products as we move forward.” The problem is that startups have limited resources to keep them ahead of big companies.

Competition 51

Competition Patents Resource Entrepreneur 51

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2012

A good answer might be “We have several patents on the base technology, which is so robust that we expect to roll out new products every year for the next ten years, always staying a step ahead of our competitors.” Undercutting competitors in price is always a good strategy, but free implies no real value. Our patent will protect us.”

Patents 90

Patents Competition IBM IBM 90

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. First-movers have an initial advantage, but this position is fraught with risk, and often comes with a high price. Grab the next-mover advantage.

Guide 95

Guide Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 95

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2014

They simply don’t have the resources to keep ahead of large competitors who see initial traction and go after it. All of these are competitors in terms of speed, price, or luxury. Here are some of the key ones: Patent protection in place as a barrier to entry. A narrow scope doesn’t help your case either.

Competition 93

Competition Startup Patents Slides 93

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2010

A good answer might be “We have several patents on the base technology, which is so robust that we expect to roll out new products every year for the next ten years, always staying a step ahead of our competitors.” Undercutting competitors in price is always a good strategy, but free implies no real value. Our patent will protect us.”

Competition 89

Competition Patents IBM IBM 89

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. First-movers have an initial advantage, but this position is fraught with risk, and often comes with a high price. Grab the next-mover advantage.

Startup 103

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 103

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

Agreeing an annual budget Setting a 409a valuation used to price stock options Agreeing stock option allocations Reviewing financial performance Talking about the organizational structure and where we need to bolster things Discussing sales & marketing strategies, product launches, technical challenges Talking about law suits (patents, trademarks, (..)

Startup 217

Startup Technical Review Equity Report 217

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2015

There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. As an example of a good resource, I enjoyed a recent book, “ Idea To Invention ,” by Patricia Nolan-Brown, that does a great job on the key steps. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks.

Ideas 104

Ideas Mentor Resource Entrepreneur 104

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. Indeed, there are some success factors that are common to both environments. Are you ready to make it happen?

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2014

There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. As an example of a good resource, I enjoyed a recent book, “ Idea To Invention ,” by Patricia Nolan-Brown, that does a great job on the key steps. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks.

Ideas 107

Ideas Mentor Entrepreneur Resource 107

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2017

There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. As an example of a good resource, I enjoyed a classic book, “ Idea To Invention ,” by Patricia Nolan-Brown, that does a great job on the key steps. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks.

Ideas 56

Ideas Mentor Resource Product 56

Berkonomics

MARCH 30, 2010

Many of the start-ups my various angel funds have financed died a slow death, not because of poor concept but because of poor execution, wasting fixed overhead and draining the final resources from the company coffers. . Email readers continue here.]

Venture Capital 212

Venture Capital Product Resource Marketing 212

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. Indeed, there are some success factors that are common to both environments. Are you ready to make it happen?

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2014

The same is true for filing patents, registering trademarks, and filing copyrights. For example, if you have no technical background, you probably can’t create or sell an enterprise software product for a low price, even today. Required legal fees now average $5K or less, compared with $20K or more as a minimum.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Commerce 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2015

It’s important to learn from your own mistakes, but it’s even smarter to learn from someone else’s mistakes, without paying their high price in time lost, cost, and pain. Patents and trademarks are very valuable in attracting investors for scaling, as well as future premium buyouts. Willing to start today and find resources later.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 105

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. First-movers have an initial advantage, but this position is fraught with risk, and often comes with a high price. Seek innovation that begets invention.

Startup 105

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

Business model showing costs, pricing, and margins. Patents, trade secrets, and trademarks are very attractive to investors, since these are not easily overcome by competitors. First to market” is not sustainable with normal startup resources. Of course, you wouldn’t include this data in your customer product pitch.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2013

Scan the Internet for existing patents and some “credible unbiased third party” data that confirms there is really a market for a solution resulting from your idea. For most people, this is the hardest part, because it forces you to contemplate real costs, prices, delivery, and volumes. Start your search for key resources.

Ideas 106

Ideas Startup Summary CalTech 106

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. Indeed, there are some success factors that are common to both environments. Are you ready to make it happen?

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2012

Scan the Internet for existing patents and some “credible unbiased third party” data that confirms there is really a market for a solution resulting from your idea. For most people, this is the hardest part, because it forces you to contemplate real costs, prices, delivery, and volumes. Start your search for key resources.

Ideas 97

Ideas Summary Startup CalTech 97

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 24, 2011

It may sound counterintuitive, but the greater constraint investors place on their financial resources during a downturn, the better your chances of success, given (of course) that your adVenture is able to either secure funding or generate adequate revenue from customers, as described below in reason #7 – Customer Dollars Taste Great.

Company 257

Company Companies Startup Study 257