Pre Seed Capital

Only Gullible Angel Investors fall for Provisional Patents

Provisional patent applications are the worst things for angel investors. What is a provisional patent application? A provisional patent application, sometimes called a “provisional” or “PPA,” is the single worst thing a startup can do to “protect” themselves. And angel investors have been led to believe that this is a good strategy. I assure you,…

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Betting on the Home Run

Angel investing requires analyzing the ability of the entrepreneur to make their business happen. Entrepreneurs who bet everything on a single home run are very poor investments. It is much better to find the “grinder” startup who is willing to do the hard work. Betting on the home run – instead of being a “grinder”…

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Startup Fundraising – Pluses and Minuses

From bootstrapping to venture funds, there are many different avenues. Fundraising for a startup company often takes more skill, talent, and innovation than creating the product or service you want to deliver. I deal with IP-centric businesses where patents are a core asset, and that implies that the entrepreneur is creative, innovative, and tries new…

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Hacking the business plan for startup funding

Want to start your own side-hustle business? Thinking about launching a new product line in your corporation? Both projects have the same steps. Get a basic business plan together Years ago, it was popular to have 30 page business plans that spelled out endless detail.  Today’s thinking is to use “Lean Methodology” to start working…

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Pre-seed Funding: You Can Do A Lot Of The Work Upfront

Start with marketing – not product design. Thinking about pre-seed funding? Getting your company off the ground is a challenging task, but far too many entrepreneurs want to run before they even crawl.  It is easy to imagine a busy staff of great, motivated employees working for you, money rolling in, and interviews and quotes…

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