Gust

OCTOBER 19, 2014

Even after your application is accepted, the issuing process takes a lifetime in today’s technology (4-5 years). Software technology changes rapidly. Either way, new computational technology algorithms would still be patentable, as long as the algorithm meets the defined requirements for novelty, usefulness and inventiveness.

Software Review 173

Software Review Software Technical Review Intellectual Property 173

Gust

AUGUST 17, 2014

Unfocused entrepreneurs boast that their new technology will generate multiple disruptive products for consumers as well as enterprises around the world. Focus means starting with a problem that is painful, rather than a technology, and showing how you can solve that problem better than anyone else. Zappos logo via Flickr by Ben Spark.

Entrepreneur 182

Entrepreneur Technical Review Angel Investor China 182

Gust

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Startups are often at the forefront of innovation, developing new technologies, products, and services that disrupt traditional industries and bring fresh ideas and approaches that drive technological advancements.

Intellectual Property 91

Intellectual Property Startup Technology Developer 91

Gust

APRIL 27, 2014

Leverage information technology. Find an IT person you can trust, and plan how you will acquire, implement, and utilize computer technology to run your business. In addition to effectiveness and consistency, you now have a myriad of legal and tax considerations to get right. Don’t try this without a formal process.

Startup 187

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

Gust

NOVEMBER 8, 2012

As a business lawyer working with startups in technology and digital media every day, I’m fortunate to have a front-row seat as entrepreneurs create value out of thin air. Most of the technology industry is notoriously apolitical. What can we do on the public policy front to turn the United States into one giant Silicon Valley?

Silicon Valley 187

Silicon Valley San Francisco Intellectual Property Accredited Investor 187

Gust

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

Before a technology startup becomes a company, it spends a period of time as simply a project. The founding team is usually one or two individuals building and testing products as they try to validate a demand for them in the market. At some point, founders ask themselves: when is it time to turn this project into a company?

Startup 172

Startup Demand Founder Technology 172

Gust

MAY 22, 2012

We now have an investment in Cascade ProDrug, using technology developed at our own University of Oregon (based in Eugene, where I live) to help people fight cancer by reducing the toxic effects of chemotherapy. This year we started with more than 30 submissions from startups.

Technical Review 111

Technical Review Oregon Due Diligence Term Sheet 111

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

What is the risk-benefit calculus for developing and protecting proprietary technologies vs. buying or licensing them (“ build vs. buy ”)? The most effective response is to beat the pants off the competition through brilliant product design, superior technology, clever marketing, strategic partnerships, swift execution, and so forth.

Intellectual Property 143

Intellectual Property IP Startup United States 143

Gust

FEBRUARY 22, 2014

But that’s where it gets interesting, because whether or not you could replicate Gust’s platform… It’s irrelevant: despite the award-winning platform and the technology under the hood, Gust’s primary advantage is NOT in our engineering, surprising though that may seem.

Belarus 107

Belarus Kazakhstan Portugal Accredited Investor 107

Gust

JULY 15, 2012

Here a few potential benefits that you should highlight to your best candidates: Opportunity for crash course in new technologies and new business initiatives. With such meager compensation and high expectations, you might ask, what would motivate such highly qualified professionals to agree to work with you?

Advisory Board 178

Advisory Board Technical Review Startup Software Review 178

Gust

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

Is your audience out walking in the park without technology or are they technology lovers who never parted with their BlackBerry or iPhone? Failing to tailor the plan to your target audience. Hone in on sites, tools, and applications your target audience is using. Producing weak, unfocused, or unhelpful content.

Social Media 125

Social Media Media Startup Curation 125

Gust

MARCH 23, 2014

The Internet has been a powerful and disruptive technology. Survey results also suggest there is now an 80 percent chance of a company losing at least 20 percent of its value in any given five-year period due to reputational issues. The good news is that you can use it to advantage. But you can’t ignore it, and pretend there is no danger.

Reputation 178

Reputation Affiliate Technical Review Social Network 178

Gust

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

There are no “overrides” – for example, businesses don’t thrive just because they offer the latest technology, or because everyone wants to be “green,” or because their goal is to reduce world hunger.

Business Model 91

Business Model Green Revenue Operations 91

Gust

DECEMBER 15, 2013

When you have invented a new technology, you need expensive models and testing, including samples for potential customers. Some entrepreneurs are quick with creative ideas, and even excellent at managing the chaos of initial implementation. You need a prototype.

Bootstrapping 183

Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Entrepreneur Technical Review 183

Gust

DECEMBER 22, 2011

Patents are highly technical, hard to get, and the process is slow and expensive, but for those who succeed, the payoff is a 20-year government-sanctioned monopoly over the patented technology. Who on the team, if anyone, is moonlighting , and how closely related is their work to the startup’s business and technology?

Intellectual Property 149

Intellectual Property Technical Review Software Review IP 149

Gust

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Look at previous company results, and listen for evidence of self-sufficiency, problem solving, and a thorough understanding of your product, technology, customers, and the market. For startups, the time to do the people filtering and fit analysis is before the hire. Invested Interests corporate executive entrepreneur startup'

Startup 165

Startup Early Stage Technical Review .Net 165

Gust

SEPTEMBER 11, 2012

Has something else happened, like market problems or disruptive technology, or competition, to change your basic assumptions? When assumptions have changed there is no virtue whatsoever in sticking to the plan you built on top of them. Use your common sense. Were you wrong about the whole thing, or just about timing?

Technical Review 121

Technical Review Algorithm Business Plan Technology 121

Gust

DECEMBER 21, 2011

Silicon Valley is a very special place – the nucleus of high-growth, high technology entrepreneurship in the US, indeed, in the world. Why make it so difficult to move technology from universities to startups? The Valley has been a unique place for over half a century. It will not be duplicated in my lifetime.

Silicon Valley 107

Silicon Valley Southern California Tucson Seattle 107

Gust

NOVEMBER 10, 2013

I still get business plans, looking for an investor, that say all too clearly that the primary “use of funds” will be to do research and development (R&D) on some promising new technology, like superconductivity or cancer cures. Technology development. This stage is the transition to pilot-scale research on the technology.

Developer 148

Developer Warrant Angel Investor Early Stage 148

Gust

JUNE 8, 2014

An easy flow of information exists using various forms of technology. Everyone must have access to appropriate technology to enable reliable, current exchanges of information. Technology has made virtual teams an everyday reality for entrepreneurs.

Global 187

Global Technology Founder Entrepreneur 187

Gust

SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

Conquer the technology you need. Separate yourself from technology on a regular schedule to not allow a machine’s interruptions to set your day’s agenda. Leverage technology. Use technology thoughtfully to automate things that take a lot of time, thus gaining leverage. Reuse things rather than re-inventing them.

Entrepreneur 180

Entrepreneur Restful Internet Matching 180

Gust

JUNE 3, 2012

While others are enjoying coffee or lunch, use the time to update yourself on your technology, your competitors, angel investors, or how to incorporate a new business. Every week, make it better than last week and see if that flicker of light can be fanned into a tiny flame. Use every spare moment at work getting smarter.

Entrepreneur 152

Entrepreneur Cofounder Angel Investor Salary 152

Gust

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Technology risk. While this method certainly considers the level of management risk it also prompts the user to assess other risk types,” including: Management. Stage of the business. Legislation/Political risk. Manufacturing risk. Sales and marketing risk. Funding/capital raising risk. Competition risk. Litigation risk. International risk.

Valuation 102

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Ohio Early Stage 102

Gust

JUNE 17, 2012

This source often gets overlooked, but it should be a major focus these days due to government initiatives on alternative energy and technology. As a rule of thumb, it is a required first step, as outside investors will not normally consider providing any funding until they see “skin in the game” from one of these first two sources.

Technical Review 164

Technical Review Bootstrapping Venture Capital Incubator 164

Gust

OCTOBER 21, 2012

Both had access to the same technology, people, and market. Maximize technology architecture and standards. What every business needs is a convergence of business and technology elements to optimize return and competitive positioning. during that period. Apple is now at $570B, with Microsoft at $240B.

Architecture 162

Architecture Startup Washington Operations 162

Gust

FEBRUARY 16, 2014

Technology keeps improving at a rapid rate, so you fall behind in technology, driving costs up, and you become non-competitive. With decreased employee productivity and outdated technology, your costs go up, and income drops. Your products quickly become outdated. Change is the only constant in a successful business.

Startup 156

Startup IP Employee Cost 156

Gust

MAY 18, 2014

The days are gone when a techie or a genius could build things in his garage and customers would find and buy the product, based purely on the “wow factor” of the technology. New technologies are everywhere today. People have seen so much that they are blasé, or actually fear pure technology.

Customer 166

Customer Audience Advertising Social Media 166

Gust

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Steve Jobs was one of those entrepreneurs who seemed universally either loved or hated, but not many will argue with his ability to innovate in the technology product arena over the years.

Design 194

Design Entrepreneur Web Technology 194

Gust

JANUARY 5, 2014

This whole process is particularly worrisome to many startup founders, since their expertise and background more likely technology than sales. I still see too many entrepreneurs who build a product and spend lots of money because THEY are in love with the idea or technology. Invested Interests business model entrepreneur startup'

Business Model 171

Business Model Sales Customer Distribution 171

Gust

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

The goal of most business incubators today is to strengthen the local economy, and commercialize new technologies. Incubators differ from research and technology parks, in that most research and technology parks do not offer business assistance services, the hallmark of a business incubation program.

Incubator 147

Incubator Entrepreneur New York City Silicon Valley 147

Gust

FEBRUARY 10, 2013

The term “early adopters” relates to the people who are eager to try almost any new technology products, and originates from Everett M. Product suggestions by early adopters often ask for increased user control over details of the technology. Early adopters love the technology, sometimes to a fault.

Marketing 178

Marketing Engineer Technology Product 178

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

You can find this in a number of places, but in a nutshell, I prefer to invest in highly-scalable, technology-based ventures, with a particular focus on platforms, at a very, very early stage (but, oxymoronically, where there is already some type of traction).

Angel Investor 153

Angel Investor Elevator Pitch Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review 153

Gust

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

By defensibility I mean expertise, design, differentiation, technology, trade secrets, and so on. I’m not likely to invest in something I know little about when it’s also far away. Defensibility. Whoops, the sixth item in a list of five? Yes, I couldn’t resist. Which finishes my honest list of my top five factors.

Technical Review 70

Technical Review Software Review Angel Investor Exit Strategy 70

Gust

JANUARY 31, 2013

Public companies have dealt with financial disclosure in ways that evolved over time with markets and technologies. The person or business on the other end of an insider trade is at an automatic disadvantage.

SEC 158

SEC Prospectus United States Technical Review 158

Gust

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Steve Jobs was one of those entrepreneurs who seemed universally either loved or hated, but not many will argue with his ability to innovate in the technology product arena over the years. Quote from Steve Jobs via Flickr.

Technology 130

Technology Entrepreneur Product Startup 130

Gust

DECEMBER 1, 2011

In most cases, the answers are (1) an outstanding product or technology; (2) a successful growth business built around that product; and (3) a top-notch team to build and execute the business.

IP 114

IP Intellectual Property Equity Liquidity Event 114

Gust

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Steve Jobs was one of those entrepreneurs who seemed universally either loved or hated, but not many will argue with his ability to innovate in the technology product arena over the years. Quote from Steve Jobs via Flickr.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Technology Startup Product 110