Posts Tagged ‘Acquisition’
CES and Grifting the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Grifting in the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem I just returned from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I have been going for many years, and I thoroughly enjoy the show in many respects, but the grifting in the entrepreneurial ecosystem is out of hand. CES has an area called “Eureka Park.” It is touted as the…
Read MoreStrategic Partnerships are often Neither
Strategic Partnerships are a polite way of saying “we don’t own the most important parts of our business.” Every founder loves to brag about their “strategic partnerships.” The name sounds impressive, but hides a glaring truth: We don’t own the most important parts of our business. Strategic partnerships are not a strategy. They are liabilities.…
Read MoreThe Company as the Product
Building a company that can be sold is building a different product for a different customer. Serving two masters – but they are compatible. The first master is the customer who buys your product, and the second master is the one who buys your company. Most entrepreneurs lose sight of the fact that the acquiring…
Read MoreNobody Buys Technology – They Buy Solutions
Nobody cares about your technology. Entrepreneurs love to talk about their technology. Endlessly. Ad nauseam. And when it’s time to raise money or sell the company[1], they make the same mistake: they lead with the tech. But here’s the truth: nobody buys technology. Not your customer. Not your acquirer. Not your investor. They buy a…
Read MoreBuild Your Company Backwards: How to Align With Angel and VC Expectations
If you can’t explain why someone will pay 10x to buy your company, you’re not ready to raise a dime. When you’re raising outside capital — especially from angels or venture funds — you’re not just pitching your company. You’re implicitly making a promise: that their investment will turn into a significant return, typically a…
Read MoreWhen Your Capital Strategy Kills Your Commercial Value
How “licensing-only” businesses can get caught in the angel/venture minefield. Let’s walk through the math that every angel investor does. This company is raising money at a 15 million dollar post-money valuation. For us as early-stage investors to justify that investment, we expect a 10x return. That means this company needs to exit at 150…
Read MoreBad Advice – Non-publication Requests for Patents
How incompetent patent attorneys hide their work product from public view. Occasionally, I run into patents where the patent attorney talks the client into a non-publication request. This is always a bad thing. Non-publication requests keep your patent secret until the patent has been examined. The patent is confidential throughout the examination process, and only…
Read MoreHow accelerators and angel groups lose their way.
Riding on the back of the entrepreneur. Ever drive by a construction site and see dozens of “supervisors” standing around, while one guy with a shovel is actually working? This is the perfect metaphor for the angel investment community, with the energetic, hard-working entrepreneur is deep down in the hole furiously shoveling, and everyone else…
Read MorePitching Investors is Not “One-and-Done”
Spend some time “riding the bus” in the Minors before getting to the Big Leagues. I have the enviable position of seeing lots of inventors who bootstrapped their companies along before they take outside investment (if they take any outside investment at all). This is – without question – the single best way to build…
Read MorePatent Ethics: Is it Ethical for the Patent Attorney to list themselves as an inventor?
The hallmark of a sleazy patent attorney is one who lists themselves as an “inventor” on patents that they write for a client. There is the “legal” definition of an inventor, and there is the realistic, practical definition. The legal definition of a co-inventor is anyone who contributes at least one limitation to one claim…
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