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May 10th, 2012 Venture capitalists, angel investors and start-up lawyers these days tend to be obsessed with “intellectual property,” or IP.
And for good reason: In the information economy, the core assets of a new venture are likely to be talented people, the IP they create, and little else.
To maximize future value, founders should try to lay a solid IP foundation even before a new start-up is incorporated. Here are five common mistakes to avoid:
1. “Contamination.”
Perhaps the single greatest source of IP anxiety in Silicon Valley stems from the fact that engineers and executives tend to build on what they
. . . → Read More: 5 ‘IP’ Mistakes Start-ups Should Avoid
April 10th, 2012 (Some observations from Gabriel Weinberg)
I’ve written before about how the very first email to an angel investor really matters, or at least to this angel investor. It’s very easy to get thrown in a bucket of wannabes or bad first-timers. Here are a few of those red flags from my perspective.
Sending an email through a service.
My email is really easy to find. Yet you’d be surprised how many people write me cold messages through Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Yes, I’m easy to find there too, but I prefer email, and I think most people do too. If you send me a
. . . → Read More: Red flags in emails to angel investors
October 2nd, 2011 There’s certainly no shortage of successful young entrepreneurs in business today. We hear daily of fast growing startups from New York City to Silicon Valley, headed by CEOs such as Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew Mason and Tim O’Shaughnessy. These creative minds have demonstrated the power of youthful tenacity and innovation, combined with a sharp eye for business.
Yet, in 2010, entrepreneurs aged 35 to 54 were responsible for over 50 percent of total new entrepreneurship activity in the U.S, according to the . Individuals aged 55 to 64 also made their mark, representing 22.9 percent of new entrepreneurs in 2010, compared
. . . → Read More: Five lessons experienced entrepreneurs have learned
September 26th, 2011 I’ve started three companies, and now I’m an angel investor. So I’ve been on both sides of the table. There are lots of good articles out there about pitching, and surely everyone who pitches me has read some of them. Still, a few problems appear over and over again. If you’ve ever had to sort through resumes and cover letters, you’ve seen this effect: People tend to have the same misconceptions and therefore make the same mistakes.
. . . → Read More: 8 ways to get automatically rejected by an angel investor
April 30th, 2009 A year and a half ago, my co-founder Dev Nag and I started an internet TV network for games called PlayCafe. Our ambitious plan was to run highly int
. . . → Read More: 10 lessons from a failed startup — VentureBeat
September 29th, 2008 My advice for young people from the West who are just entering the workforce is simple:
* It is tough out there, and it’s only going to get tougher
. . . → Read More: We’re All Entrepreneurs
September 4th, 2008 While technology has made forming a corporation less expensive and less timeconsuming, doing it right remains critical. This article discusses common
. . . → Read More: Top Legal Mistakes Made by Founders of Early Stage Companies
September 4th, 2008 Sometimes it makes more sense not to raise money from venture capitalists. I ask entrepreneurs all the time, “Are you sure you want to raise money?”
. . . → Read More: Don’t Raise Money : Colorado Startups
September 4th, 2008 Like many new young entrepreneurs, three years ago I thought I was pretty hot stuff. I had a few employees, raised some angel money… and then proce
. . . → Read More: 7 Teeth-Gnashing Mistakes I Made as an Entrepreneur
August 22nd, 2008 To prepare current students for the Harvard Business School Business Plan Contest, associate professor Connie Bagley gives a seminar in which she sha
. . . → Read More: Top Ten Legal Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs — HBS Working Knowledge
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