Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

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.

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Patents Ideas Sample 101

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. The good news is that early adopters are never reluctant to sign up as beta customers and will provide you early feedback on product quality. Psychologists call this the confirmation bias.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup News 103

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. The good news is that early adopters are never reluctant to sign up as beta customers and will provide you early feedback on product quality. Psychologists call this the confirmation bias.

Customer 117

Customer Custom Technical Review Product 117

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2023

The biggest complaint I hear from fellow investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. 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

FEBRUARY 18, 2023

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

Startup 83

Startup Technical Review Invest Patents 83

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

As I’ve written about recently, at Upfront Ventures we started talking a couple of years ago about wanting to fund stuff with more meaning. The practical uses for uBeam technology is limitless. Did anybody hold patents that would prevent us from using this technology? We hired IP specialists to review prior art.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

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. Krisztina Holly: We are an early stage fund, known for our ability to discovery and cultivate very complex science and technology deals.

Southern California 124

Southern California Capital Technical Review Startup 124

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. It can be one of the strongest motivators.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2020

The biggest complaint I hear from fellow investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point.

Startup 118

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 118

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2014

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. This patent holding company has charged infringement and demanded royalties from every app developer for the iPhone and Android, for a feature most agree has been in apps for many years.

Patents 100

Patents Software Review Software Technical Advisors 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2016

For a software startup, a patent can be the intellectual property providing the key competitive advantage, or it can be an expensive non-defensible bureaucratic nightmare -- or both. Some argue to simply eliminate software patents, while others put their hopes in U.S. There is no such thing as a world-wide patent.

Patents 53

Patents Software Review Software Technical Advisors 53

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

In my experience, consummate entrepreneurs tend come up with more startup ideas than they can ever implement, and some of the ideas may not even make business sense. Now we are starting to see a computer on every wrist. Passion, optimism, and determination are necessary but not sufficient to assure a successful startup.

Ideas 83

Ideas Technical Review Patents Startup 83

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

Intellectual Property (IP) is an ugly thing at a startup. However, to a Big Dumb Company (BDC), a startup’s IP is a thing of beauty. How can IP be worthless to a startup yet very worthwhile to a BDC? Patents held by startups generally have a limited ability to reduce competition. The second reason is more subtle.

IP 256

IP Patents Company Companies 256

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 6, 2017

In this article #StartupsEverywhere , I talked with Joe Wallace, CEO and Chief Innovation Officer of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership, and Hank McCarrick, CEO and founder of Seco Sys about sustainability, emerging eco tech, and challenges in the ecosystem. What’s your role in the Coachella Valley area startup ecosystem?

Startup 121

Startup Technical Review Patents Services 121

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2015

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Invest Startup Patents 103

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 6, 2017

In this article #StartupsEverywhere , I talked with Joe Wallace, CEO and Chief Innovation Officer of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership, and Hank McCarrick, CEO and founder of Seco Sys about sustainability, emerging eco tech, and challenges in the ecosystem. What’s your role in the Coachella Valley area startup ecosystem?

Startup 107

Startup Technical Review Patents Services 107

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Most technologists have little interest in the mechanics of starting and building a business. 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. New technology is so exciting it sells itself.

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Patents Entrepreneur Customer 101

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. The good news is that early adopters are never reluctant to sign up as beta customers and will provide you early feedback on product quality. Psychologists call this the confirmation bias.

Technical Review 96

Technical Review News Customer Custom 96

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

We were super excited by their offering – they had patented technology in a field that we believe will continue to grow massively. During the final pre-term sheet due diligence we discovered that the CEO had had a felony arrest for a significant crime that he hadn’t disclosed to us.

Technical Review 284

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Funding 284

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

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

conversation literally every week with startups. 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. million and in my second company we raised only $500,000 by choice.

Startup 292

Startup Software Review Pricing Entrepreneur 292

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. The good news is that early adopters are never reluctant to sign up as beta customers and will provide you early feedback on product quality. Psychologists call this the confirmation bias.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Technical Review News 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

In my experience, consummate entrepreneurs tend come up with more startup ideas than they can ever implement, and some of the ideas may not even make business sense. Passion, optimism, and determination are necessary but not sufficient to assure a successful startup. Check for intellectual property barriers in your way.

Ideas 106

Ideas Entrepreneur Technical Review Patents 106

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

My advice with Elephants was that you need to take them head on in your first VC meeting because the VC is already thinking about the issue whether you bring it up or not. They are issues, though, that your VC would certainly find out during due diligence or at a minimum you’d be ethically obliged to tell them.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Examples 311

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. Of course, every company needs these, in due time. Need expensive resources up front. You need a prototype. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Technical Review Equity 100

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. Today, we have Brian Mac Mahon of startup accelerator ExpertDojo (www.expertdojo.com). I believe that most of our success came from startups resonating with our message to build big, fast.

Southern California 113

Southern California Technical Review Santa Monica Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

Recently, I’ve seen a lot of discussion about bringing the work back home, since costs have gone up in less-developed countries, there are issues with intellectual property, and time zone and language differences make management difficult. It’s easy to find companies in certain countries that will quote cost reductions up to 75 percent.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122

socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2012

For the last week of the year, we're featuring the thoughts and reflections of some of the movers and shakers of Southern California's high tech community. We asked the same four questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next week.

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Southern California Incubator High Tech 223

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

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

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 124

Technical Review Statistics Startup Social Media 124

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

The biggest complaint I hear from investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point. Don’t forget to ask for the order.

Startup 64

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 64

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. It's really a big problem out there.

Pasadena Angels 100

Pasadena Angels Pasadena Technical Review Southern California 100

socalTECH

MAY 14, 2010

Clearly, 2009 was not a good year, from the perspective of the technology innovation ecosystem. That was primarily driven by the economy; when the economy is down, investments are down, and it is increasingly difficult to d a startup. For OCTANe to be successful, we want to see our technology ecosystem grow.

OCTANE 174

OCTANE Orange County Technical Review Southern California 174

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

A friend recently asked me to give his startup-minded daughter some advice to help her vet undergraduate entrepreneurial programs. In my role as a Professor of Practice within UC Santa Barbara’s entrepreneurial Technology Management Program (TMP), I have worked with approximately 8,000 students over a ten year period.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Class Patents 100

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2011

Los Angeles area entrepreneurs, investors, and startups have gotten to know Paige Craig fairly well over the last few years, as he's made many investments in the local ecosystem. What drove you move from investing to starting up BetterWorks? There's a fairly complex platform we've patented.

Startup 216

Startup Technical Review Software Review Platform 216

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

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