Berkonomics

JULY 18, 2019

There is a major trend shaping up that is worldwide, already identified by hundreds of thousands of startup and small business CEO’s. Patents, branding, marketing and more. Or we do so with brilliant research and development, highly trained sales forces, large advertising campaigns, or secret processes.

Patents 120

Patents Resource Training Advertising 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. Start with a service you know and love. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? Especially if the idea could be whipped-up by a few 24-year olds in a few weeks? You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? Especially if the idea could be whipped-up by a few 24-year olds in a few weeks? You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Berkonomics

AUGUST 27, 2020

Up-to-date insurance policies, leases, financial documents and schedules such as fixed assets are copied here. Copies of intellectual property filings such as patents, copyrights and trademarks, all owned URL addresses, and even copies of source code, may be resident in the deal room, dependent upon the type of buyer.

Software Review 156

Software Review Startup Patents Email 156

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

“Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but mean, Needs not the painted flourish of your praise: Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye, Not uttered by base sale of chapmen’s tongues” . Intellectual Property (IP) is an ugly thing at a startup. How can IP be worthless to a startup yet very worthwhile to a BDC?

IP 256

IP Patents Company Companies 256

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

Typo , the Los Angeles startup backed by Ryan Seacrest which is developing a BlackBerry-like keyboard for the iPhone, has struck back against the patent lawsuit filed against the firm by BlackBerry. According to reports , Typo has submitted arguments to a California court against an injunction preventing sales of its keyboard.

Patents 147

Patents Los Angeles Report Sales 147

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Sales/Marketing.

Sales 102

Sales Customer Custom Outsource 102

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2021

They run into difficulty when their business reaches the $1-2 million annual sales range, or their employee count exceeds 5-10. I’ve extracted here some key ones relevant to startups entering the growth stage: Communication clarity is essential. Most startups begin first, and think about organization later.

Startup 171

Startup Organization Training Entrepreneur 171

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

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups and being a Startup CTO : Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March here are the top posts from May 2010. Through advertising or direct sales, these sites harvest intent. It is to out friend.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2019

New entrepreneurs who want to survive, and optimize the growth of their startups, need to think globally, and act locally, from day one. When buyers in one region start to slow down, look for buyers in other geographies to take up the slack. Balance your business between geographies. Speak the customer’s language.

Marketing 94

Marketing Patents Offshore Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2021

We all hate to see your proposal rejected , when a bit more effort and homework could expedite your startup funding and rollout. The most attractive revenue model today for services is subscriptions, and for products it is sales and support. Patents are a good place for you to start.

Funding 132

Funding Template Resource Competition 132

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

Thus I offer the following outline for how to organize and present your business plan, with specific examples: Start with outlining the customer problem, and your solution. For example, “We just patented a new battery technology that will cut your smartphone charge time and cost in half.” Use non-fuzzy terms to quantify customer value.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

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.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2012

New entrepreneurs who want to survive, and optimize the growth of their startups, need to think globally, and act locally, from day one. When buyers in one region start to slow down, look for buyers in other geographies to take up the slack. Balance your business between geographies. Speak the customer’s language.

Marketing 104

Marketing Startup Patents Offshore 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. Startups which display real innovation, such as alternative energy sources and new medical treatments, are still rare. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Search Engine Optimization 103

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2023

Here are some key ones that I find often overlooked in the passion of the moment or the rush to get started: Aim your innovations at real customer problems. You can be that person, if you demonstrate and practice commitment, determination, a real plan, and show that you never give up. Assemble the resources needed for the business.

Tips 80

Tips Startup Satisfaction Ideas 80

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2022

No matter how excited your initial customers appear to be, every market has a saturation point on new and repeat sales. Start today with new customer acquisition efforts. Be prepared to create and train a dedicated support group that can keep up with your now large and growing install base of demanding customers.

Marketing 110

Marketing Pricing Startup Customer 110

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2012

One of the first tough decisions that startup founders have to make is how to allocate or split the equity among co-founders. The easy answer of splitting it equally among all co-founders, since there is minimal value at that point, is usually the worst possible answer, and often results in a later startup failure due to an obvious inequity.

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity CTO Hire 101

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

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. NewCo might be able to pick up an initial $50K valuation on this item. Assign real value to intellectual property.

Startup 108

Startup Invest Patents Outsource Development 108

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2013

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. Need expensive resources up front. Even in these cases, all other options should be explored first: Sales are strong – too strong.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Technical Review Equity 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Startup 89

Startup Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 89

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 108

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Entrepreneurs who are looking to attract investors need to develop and pitch a plan -- preferably written -- that answers every potential investor question about your startup before it is asked. This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Berkonomics

JANUARY 27, 2012

And because there was consideration paid to you in the sale, that clause is binding upon you and is effective almost everywhere. Well, what if the buyer is now bankrupt? Does the non-compete start anew upon the employee’s departure? That does nothing to regain your right to its purchased information.

Patents 159

Patents Sales Email Product 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2012

Even for low-tech startups, the scope of information available on the Internet, and its global reach, has had a similar financial impact on the many other challenges facing every startup founder. Here are a few examples: Setting up the business. Sales and marketing costs. Facilities and staff. Wages and benefits.

Startup 102

Startup Search Engine Optimization SEM Social Network 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2012

An "elevator pitch" is a concise, well-practiced description of your startup and your plan, delivered with conviction and enthusiasm, that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. How do you expect them to get excited, if your startup sounds like a dull subject to you?

Startup 113

Startup Patents Template Competition 113

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. Our Infinite Corridor Fund makes pre-seed to seed investments in transformative science startups, primarily MIT-related.

Southern California 124

Southern California Capital Technical Review Startup 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2015

New entrepreneurs who want to survive, and optimize the growth of their startups, need to think globally, and act locally, from day one. When buyers in one region start to slow down, look for buyers in other geographies to take up the slack. entrepreneur glocalization international local startup' Marty Zwilling.

Patents 106

Patents Startup Offshore Demand 106

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

Of course it helps to have innovative technologies before you start building a business. If you have been working alone, perfecting your idea, with no new business track record, your best strategy is to license the technology to a company or team with real business startup experience. Commercialization requires infrastructure.

Technical Review 156

Technical Review Funding Patents Ideas 156

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. It’s not hard to come up with the idea that a cure for cancer would make a great business, but some things are harder than they look. Start your search for key resources.

Ideas 106

Ideas Startup Summary CalTech 106

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

They also look for entrepreneurs they know from past experience and warm introductions, or for evidence that you have previously built a successful startup, and sold your last one for maybe $800 million. Every pitch should start with a concise statement of the problem and your innovative solution.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Startup Statistics Social Media 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2013

They run into difficulty when their business reaches the $1-2 million annual sales range, or their employee count exceeds 5-10. I’ve extracted here some key ones relevant to startups entering the growth stage: Communication clarity is essential. Most startups begin first, and think about organization later.

Startup 109

Startup Entrepreneur Organization Training 109

Berkonomics

AUGUST 23, 2012

There is a major trend shaping up that is worldwide, already identified by hundreds of thousands of startup and small business CEOs. Or we do so with brilliant research and development, highly trained sales forces, large advertising campaigns, or secret processes.

Patents 159

Patents Training Resource Advertising 159

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

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61