Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

The discipline of writing down your plan is the best way to make sure you understand how to transform your idea into a business, and how to communicate it. Offer free solutions to bring in more customers. Don’t get caught in the myth that you shouldn’t worry about monetization until after you have a large customer base.

Intellectual Property 436

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 436

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Surprisingly if you’ve filled out the business model canvas you already know who you need. I was having breakfast with Radhika, an ex-grad student of mine who wanted to share her Customer Discovery progress for her consumer hardware startup. ——-. I told Radhika this is a perennial question for startups.

Cofounder 335

Cofounder Founder Intellectual Property Business Model 335

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2014

We’re changing the order in which we teach the business model canvas and customer development to better-fit therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices. The Lean LaunchPad class uses the three “ Lean Startup ” principles: Alexander Osterwalders “ business model canvas ” to frame hypotheses.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Lean IP Open Source 281

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

Last month we covered the basics of intellectual property (IP) for startups, including a simple taxonomy, some common issues and related documents for entrepreneurs to use when forming a new startup. I’m proud to contribute to the effort and always enjoy reading what the other authors have to say.

Intellectual Property 143

Intellectual Property IP Startup United States 143

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

Most large companies manage three types of innovation: process innovation (making existing products incrementally better), continuous innovation (building on the strength of the company’s current business model but creating new elements) and disruptive innovation (creating products or services that did not exist before.).

Acquisition 332

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors. Registered patents and other intellectual property.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

This could involve leasing out unused space, selling off non-core assets, or finding innovative ways to monetize intellectual property or data. The goal is to transform dormant or underutilized assets into active capital that supports your business. It is also the time to take a hard look at your business model.

Technical Review 133

Technical Review Due Diligence Bankruptcy Intellectual Property 133

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

For a business, you must define the absolute minimum features you need to satisfy the customer problem, and test it in the market. By using a laser focused approach for the first iteration, you may actually produce something and get a customer without funding. Get a real customer and real revenue.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Sweat Equity CTO Hire 281

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. If you don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Social Media Business Model Employee 278

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 29, 2024

This isn’t just about having a eureka moment; it’s about understanding the problem you’re solving and why it matters to your potential customers. Designing Your Business Model Crafting a business model is like building a blueprint for your venture.

Intellectual Property 131

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Business Model Bootstrapping 131

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2023

It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Business risks are not just development risks. Business risks are not just development risks. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions.

Intellectual Property 343

Intellectual Property Metrics .Net Social Network 343

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. If you don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out.

Intellectual Property 436

Intellectual Property Social Media Business Model Employee 436

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

For a business, you must define the absolute minimum features you need to satisfy the customer problem, and test it in the market. By using a laser focused approach for the first iteration, you may actually produce something and get a customer without funding. Get a real customer and real revenue.

Intellectual Property 260

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 260

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2023

Actually, great new customer solutions lead to great platforms, not the other way around. Extrapolating you as the target customer. Never mix up what you like with what your customers will buy. While there should be no stigma for failure, there is no joy in being a dead business walking.

Intellectual Property 314

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Bankruptcy Viral 314

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2022

This means building a revenue stream, and tuning your business model to produce margins in the 50 percent range or above. Once you have a proven business model, you need to scale the business up quickly to stay ahead of competitors. If you want to survive. Survival means growth and scaling. If you want to mate.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Startup Early Stage Venture Capital 281

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors. Registered patents and other intellectual property.

Angel Investor 268

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Early Stage 268

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

Come with a product built and a proven business model. Angels are most interested to help you scale the business, once you have real customer traction and ready to break out. A business needs technical, marketing, financial and many other skills. Create and highlight your intellectual property portfolio.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Angel Groups 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2023

Simply stated, it means that your business has the potential to multiply revenue with minimal incremental cost. Ready to scale is when you have a proven product and a proven business model, about to expand to new geographies and markets. Build a business plan and model that is attractive to investors.

Hockey Stick 339

Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Non-Compete Business Model 339

Steve Blank

JANUARY 30, 2013

With hindsight we should have had “proof of concepts” tested in a corporate center (think ‘pop-up incubator’) where they would do extensive Customer Discovery. We should had done this before assigning the teams to a particular business unit (or had the ability to create a new business unit, or spin the team out of the company).

Programming 265

Programming Technical Review Incubator Intellectual Property 265

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Steve Blank

JUNE 19, 2014

110 researchers and clinicians, and Principal Investigators got out of the lab and hospital, and talked to 2,355 customers, tested 947 hypotheses and invalidated 423 of them. clinical utility, customer, quality of data, reimbursement, what parts of the product are valuable, roles of CRO’s , and partners, etc.,)

Lean 269

Lean SBIR Intellectual Property Customer Development 269

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Register some intellectual property to provide a barrier to entry. A large portion of your competitive advantage and your potential value to investors is the size of your intellectual property portfolio. Demonstrate a concentrated focus on customers early on.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock Stealth 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Women Entrepreneurs Can

SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

Obtaining financial, taxation, and legal advice might seem unnecessary, but the additional assistance can guide your business into growing in a way that minimizes surprises, troubles, and unwanted liabilities. Legally Secure Your Intellectual Property Position. Register the trademarks that you will use in your business.

Intellectual Property 59

Intellectual Property Startup Government Technical Review 59

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

For a business, you must define the absolute minimum features you need to satisfy the customer problem, and test it in the market. By using a laser focused approach for the first iteration, you may actually produce something and get a customer without funding. Get a real customer and real revenue.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2017

An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008. In my experience as a new business advisor, a business is nothing until people are aligned and work in sync. Value propositions.

Business Model 143

Business Model Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor 143

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Define some intellectual property. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. Remember to aim the content of both of these at investors, not customers. They must amplify your “elevator pitch” to investors, as well as key points from the business plan and the financial model.

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

Truly satisfied customers are a joy to every business person. A business model that works. Maybe it’s that first customer testimonial, or that first congratulations from someone you respect, or seeing your story in the newspaper. Your own learning should be the biggest inspiration of all.

Sweat Equity 400

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Startup Viral 400

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 30, 2012

This is the origin of the “solution looking for a problem” and “if we build it, they will come” syndromes, which result in surprise and frustration waiting for funding, and waiting for customers that don’t materialize. Business strategy allows you to change customer perceptions and responses to your product or service offerings.

Intellectual Property 248

Intellectual Property Startup IP Finance 248

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

Up and Running

AUGUST 24, 2020

Here are just a few things you can do by leveraging data analytics: Gain a better understanding of changing customer preferences Discover new business opportunities Identify and eliminate bottlenecks in your operations Minimize and better allocate advertising costs Provide greater customer support through automated chat.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Analytics Forecast Artificial Inteligence 131

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Lead with your intent to offer the solution free to customers. Of course, customers love free, but investors hate it. They know it’s especially hard to provide a financial return with a free business model. Investors fear negative vibes will infect the business. Skip the hype.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Technical Review Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. Here is my list of red flags that cause many investors to look elsewhere: No well-defined need or viable customer set.

Due Diligence 271

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock 271