Tag: Startups
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Why Patent Competence Is a C-Suite 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…
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Are 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…
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Myth: 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…
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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…
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AI-Assisted Patent Search Tools Exacerbate Inventor Biases
AI chat tools have two problems: over-simplification and hallucination. These two problems mimic inventor’s biases when doing patent searches, leading to bad results. Inventors and entrepreneurs might love the idea of using an AI‑powered search…
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Contempt 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,…
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AI Startups: Protect Everything EXCEPT the Patent
Short version: For most AI companies, patents on “using AI for X” don’t protect you. They backfire by revealing your method while remaining practically unenforceable. The competitive advantage is in your data, processes, distribution, and…
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Strategic 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…
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Build 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…
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A License is NOT Selling Your Technology – It is Selling Exclusivity
I recently heard a pitch from a startup with remarkable technology – a genetically modified seed that signaled when it’s under stress. Instead of waiting for crops to wilt, farmers could respond early, boosting yields.…