If you really want to impress a startup founder as a potential employee, or you want to be a smart investor, you need to know the right questions to ask. These are the questions that get past the hype of a founder “vision to change the world,” and into the realm of real business strengths, weaknesses, and current health. Now you know. MORE >>

One of the biggest, most frequent mistakes I see as an intellectual property attorney is a startups’s lack of ownership to all of the exclusive rights to the intellectual property created for it. If your company does not own the rights to the founders’ work, a founder may walk off and take their IP rights with them. MORE >>

Adeo Ressi , the founding member of TheFunded , recently announced the establishment of TheFunded Founder Institute. The Founder Institute helps founders launch innovative companies by providing training, services, and company-building assignments, such as incorporating the business, filing provision patents, and setting up books and records. MORE >>

Often a startup founder will desire to license his or her intellectual property to a new startup venture, rather than transfer ownership to the startup at incorporation via a technology assignment agreement. Founder IP License Problem. Founder IP Should Become Startup IP. This is a bad idea. Conclusion. MORE >>

It’s always painful when a startup fails, but as a mentor to founders, I would hope that you can learn from these failings and not stumble on the same issues. Unfortunately, a startup with no brand name and no intellectual property is a sitting duck for the big slow company, as soon as they see you gaining a bit of traction. MORE >>