Posts Tagged ‘Entrepreneurs’
Why Patent Competence Is a CEO’s Responsibility
Why outsourcing it to a patent attorney is one of the most common — and expensive — mistakes founders make There’s a simple test for whether a patent actually matters: Did it change your competitor’s behavior? If the answer is no, then whatever you have is not protection. It may be a patent in the…
Read MoreAre Patents Still Relevant in the Age of AI?
The cost to build software is collapsing. Not slowly. Not incrementally. It’s collapsing fast enough that entire assumptions about startups, competition, and defensibility no longer hold. AI has changed the economics of software development in two fundamental ways. First, it has reduced the time required to build functional products. Second, it has reduced the number…
Read MoreMyth: Patents Have Intrinsic Value
Why Revenue Is the Only Metric of Value There is a deeply embedded myth in the startup, investor, and legal ecosystems that patents have intrinsic value. That simply owning a patent means you own “something valuable.” That belief is not just wrong — it is dangerously wrong. We have written before about this exact misconception…
Read MoreCES 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 MoreFour Horsemen of the Investor Apocalypse
Contempt That Destroys Investor–Entrepreneur Relationships Contempt is one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Once it shows up, it is the end of a relationship. Contempt doesn’t look like shouting. It is mostly passive aggressive. It masquerades as “patience” that overlays growing frustration. In a previous post, we talked about how an entrepreneur can…
Read MoreYour Patent Attorney Is NOT Giving Business Advice
Are you getting a list of options or a strategy that aligns with your business? Is that “strategy” more tailored to the Law Firm’s billing or your success? Most inventors think that hiring a patent attorney[1] means they’re protected. That’s a mistake. Patent attorneys are trained to give you every possible option. Want a provisional?…
Read MoreContempt from Crowdfunded Equity
Entrepreneurs are stuck between two polar opposites. On one hand, they are encouraged – endlessly – to hype, hype, hype. The accelerators and incubators want to see astronomical projections, Total Addressable Markets in the trillions, and hockey stick growth. Entrepreneurs need to attract attention, and the more they hype and over promise, the more attention…
Read MoreEntrepreneurs and Imposter Syndrome
The Easiest Way to Spot an Entrepreneur with Imposter Syndrome: They Don’t Have Revenue Some founders will drone on and on telling you how “innovative” they are. They highlight their patents, their clever ideas, their alma mater from decades ago. But without customers and cash flow, that’s just posturing. Real innovation is not what you…
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…
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