Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2023

Savvy investors tell me that startup founders who claim to have never failed are either lying or have never tried anything innovative. A technical champion may drive a specific innovation, but the business leader has to own the result, in order to drive an appropriate business model, customer acquisition, support, and a growth strategy.

Intellectual Property 343

Intellectual Property Metrics .Net Social Network 343

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

According to most definitions, anyone who starts a business is an entrepreneur , but most people don’t realize there are many startup types out there, and picking the wrong one can be just as disastrous as being stuck in a cubicle at work, or doing things with no interest and no skills. Aspire to be in control of your own domain.

Intellectual Property 243

Intellectual Property Matching Business Model Cofounder 243

Women Entrepreneurs Can

SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

Here are TWELVE actionable things that you can do to avoid disputes and litigation when initiating a business. At the beginning of the venture, you must see to it that you have prepared the documents that lay out the arrangements between founders, investors, and shareholders. Legally Secure Your Intellectual Property Position.

Intellectual Property 59

Intellectual Property Startup Government Technical Review 59

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Just don’t try to sell your business to investors before it is well established. A popular approach these days seems to be for founders to regale investors early with a pitch touting the newest “million-dollar idea.” If your strength is technology, find a co-founder who has a comparable strength in business, finance or marketing.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock Stealth 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2020

Believe it or not, the business world changes even faster than technology, so you need to see changes coming in your industry, and even drive them. That means taking calculated risks with new business models, new customer segments, as well as new products and services. Provides the focus to balance entrepreneur distractions.

Founder 312

Founder Intellectual Property Dilution Startup 312

Steve Blank

JANUARY 28, 2014

Kauffman just launched Founders School - a new education series to help entrepreneurs develop their businesses during the startup stage by highlighting how startups are different from big companies. After weeks honing the script and days of filming, I’m honored to present the “ Startups ” section of Founders School.

Founder 327

Founder Intellectual Property Lean Customer Development 327

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

If the founders are not experienced, find a couple of advisors from the business sector to fill the gap. Define some intellectual property. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. This is called “validating the business model.”

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

They expect to hear about founders and team member’s prior experience in building a startup, and knowledge in the relevant solution domain. They know it’s especially hard to provide a financial return with a free business model. Investors read this as an excuse for no real intellectual property or innovation.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Technical Review Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

For no good reason, this process seems shrouded in mystery, when in fact it is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. Remember that up to this point, the investor has primarily seen and talked to the founder and CEO, and studied written documents.

Technical Review 237

Technical Review Due Diligence Intellectual Property Private Equity 237

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2021

According to most definitions, anyone who starts a business is an entrepreneur , but most people don’t realize there are many startup types out there, and picking the wrong one can be just as disastrous as being stuck in a cubicle at work, or doing things with no interest and no skills. Aspire to be in control of your own domain.

Intellectual Property 328

Intellectual Property Matching Business Model Cofounder 328

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

If the founders are not experienced, find a couple of advisors from the business sector to fill the gap. Define some intellectual property. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. This is called “validating the business model.”

Angel Investor 224

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Founder insistence on non-dilute clauses, arms-length relationships, and quick closure without due diligence will short-circuit active interest. Undefined business model or very low gross margins. Lack of intellectual property. Naïve expectations on funding terms and process.

Due Diligence 271

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock 271

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Most technologists have little interest in the mechanics of starting and building a business. That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. Outside investors are most interested in scaling a proven business model, not research and development.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2010

For no good reason, this process seems shrouded in mystery, when in fact it is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. Remember that up to this point, the investor has primarily seen and talked to the founder and CEO, and studied written documents.

Technical Review 225

Technical Review Due Diligence Intellectual Property Private Equity 225

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2016

Investors look for entrepreneurs who talk about building a sustainable business, rather than highlighting the breakthrough elegance of the technology or the need for social change. Some founders are so passionate about their solution that they forget to lead with an explanation of the customer value equation. Focus on customer needs.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Angel Investor 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

Savvy investors tell me that startup founders who claim to have never failed are either lying or have never tried anything innovative. A technical champion may drive a specific innovation, but the business leader has to own the result, in order to drive an appropriate business model, customer acquisition, support, and a growth strategy.

Intellectual Property 360

Intellectual Property Social Network Metrics .Net 360

ReadWriteStart

JULY 9, 2023

At the same time, startups are indeed exciting and highly satisfying for their founders. A founder needs certain skills and knowledge. They impact fundraising, hiring, intellectual property rights and patents, and many more things around starting and running a business. A good founder is always a good communicator.

Intellectual Property 122

Intellectual Property Startup Burn Rate Metrics 122

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

business models. Intellectual property protection is great on paper and “limited” in practice. Eventually, China’s innovation-driven economy needs intellectual property rights and anti-trust laws that are enforced. business models. Of course “copy” is too strong a word.

China 323

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 323

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 28, 2011

While Microsoft is putting significant effort into the accelerator program, Microsoft will not retain intellectual property or equity in any of the participating companies. Some of the mentors, in addition to me, include: Jeff Powers, Founder, Occipital, Andrew Tschesnok, Founder, Organic Motion.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Common Stock Seattle Cofounder 134

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

The first will be commodity businesses that are valued for their ability to execute their current business model. The second class will be firms with a demonstrated ability to continually innovate and reinvent their business models. These innovations do not require change in a company’s existing business model.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

Founder insistence on non-dilute clauses, arms-length relationships, and quick closure without due diligence will short-circuit active interest. Undefined business model or very low gross margins. Lack of intellectual property. Naïve expectations on funding terms and process.

Due Diligence 308

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 308

Gust

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

For no good reason, this process seems shrouded in mystery, when in fact it is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. Remember that up to this point, the investor has primarily seen and talked to the founder and CEO, and studied written documents.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Due Diligence Intellectual Property Private Equity 152

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

business models. Intellectual property protection is great on paper and “limited” in practice. Eventually, China’s innovation-driven economy needs intellectual property rights and anti-trust laws that are enforced. business models. Of course “copy” is too strong a word.

China 215

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 215

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2014

Kauffman launched Founders School - a new education series to help entrepreneurs develop their businesses during the startup stage by highlighting how startups are different from big companies. In January 2014 Part 1 of the “ Startups ” section of Founders School went online. 1:28: Using the Business Model Canvas.

Intellectual Property 328

Intellectual Property Lean Customer Development Acquisition 328

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2018

Savvy investors tell me that startup founders who claim to have never failed are either lying or have never tried anything innovative. A technical champion may drive a specific innovation, but the business leader has to own the result, in order to drive an appropriate business model, customer acquisition, support, and a growth strategy.

Intellectual Property 160

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Metrics .Net 160

Gust

NOVEMBER 8, 2012

Nevertheless, there are literally thousands of other examples scattered around the country, each of which grew from a founder or two with an idea to a successful growth company employing scores, hundreds or even thousands of skilled employees, with the attendant benefits to the local and national economy. Intellectual Property.

Silicon Valley 187

Silicon Valley San Francisco Intellectual Property Accredited Investor 187

Up and Running

OCTOBER 13, 2014

Chris Cera, the founder of Vuzit, said that these new customers enabled his company to repay the majority of its investors. The bank wanted to develop mobile deposit technology quickly so that it could keep pace with its competitors. The aerospace company wanted to index, store, and display top-secret documents for the U.K.

Intellectual Property 106

Intellectual Property Philadelphia Small Business California 106

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

From there, I became the first non-founder employee at an e-commerce startup called BITSource, which was the first electronic software distributor delivering electronic volume software licenses to corporations. It was also beneficial because I got some good experience with both B2B and B2C business models. It sounds interesting.

Management 150

Management Product Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

If the founders are not experienced, find a couple of advisors from the business sector to fill the gap. Define some intellectual property. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. This is called “validating the business model.”

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 260

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

Picking the right attorney in your startup is as important as picking the right business partner. You can’t underestimate the importance of selecting an attorney who “gets” your business model, your market opportunity, and most importantly, your fundraising and exit strategy. How much time do they have for you?

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2011

This site aggregates and filters content from thought leaders who talk about topics such as Marketing , Sales , Design , Revenue , Hiring , Social Media , Business Models , Metrics , PR , Venture Capital , Angel Investors , Bootstrapping , Incubators , Agile and many others.

Intellectual Property 175

Intellectual Property Aggregator Startup IP 175

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2016

Savvy investors tell me that startup founders who claim to have never failed are either lying or have never tried anything innovative. A technical champion may drive a specific innovation, but the business leader has to own the result, in order to drive an appropriate business model, customer acquisition, support, and a growth strategy.

Intellectual Property 161

Intellectual Property Metrics .Net Social Network 161

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 27, 2018

You have to align your business model to the needs of the market, find competent staff to execute your plans, develop a high-quality product, invest in marketing and set up a corporate network that can boost growth and revenue. – Protecting the company’s intellectual property.

Intellectual Property 100

Intellectual Property Non-Compete Startup Bankruptcy 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2017

Based on my own experience as a startup investor, and feedback from like-minded friends, we all get pitches for at least ten startup ideas for every one new business plan. New business founders need to remember that investors fund business implementations, not ideas. Stake your territory with some intellectual property.

Intellectual Property 185

Intellectual Property Social Media LLC Cloud 185

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

If you have a proven business model with some sales, it’s credible to apply a multiplier of five to 10 times this number for the first element of valuation. If the founder and team members have built a previous startup in a related business domain, that fact may add up to an additional $1 million in valuation for your startup.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Startup 120

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 13, 2019

If you can prove a business model, traction, and potential for a tremendous scale with the right backing, you could be a ripe target to be acquired. . Intellectual property is one of the most valuable assets acquirers seek in startups. Yet, investors and analysts demand it. Often, the easiest solution is just to buy it.

Intellectual Property 102

Intellectual Property IP Acquisition Startup 102

Gust

DECEMBER 16, 2012

If the founders are not experienced, find a couple of advisors from the business sector to fill the gap. Define some intellectual property. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. This is called “validating the business model.”.

Angel Investor 179

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 179