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IP Budgeting Challenges and Consequences

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What is Intellectual Property (IP) Budgeting?

IP is a significant cost center for an innovative organization or corporation. In general, the costs escalate geometrically over the years as the portfolio grows in depth and geographical spread.

Most people even vaguely familiar with IP handling are well aware of common costs such as for application drafting and filing, patent research, application prosecution, Trademark filing, IP due diligence, IP Litigation etc. However there are many, many other expenses which are often less understood, not expected, and very painful.

A critical element of managing an IP portfolio is managing the budget for the IP portfolio. This is not an easy thing to do, but a critically important task, that aims to help manage costs, anticipate expenses, plan for “surprises”, and in general, have a budget for enabling qualitative handling of the important matters. IP Budget management requires a high level of organization, and is generally not for CFO’s, as it also requires much specialist information, a very good understanding of the position of the portfolio, and the strategy for developing the portfolio going forward.

What are the Consequences?

Most nightmare scenarios you can dream up can well be the consequences of bad IP budget management. I have seen many mess-ups and painful losses resulting from inadequate IP money management, and you don’t want these to happen to you!

 

A mismanaged IP budget may easily lead to throwing away of good IP, having inadequate cover for core IP, compromising on new IP discovery, using up precious R&D resources developing unprotect-able or patented IP etc. Considering that IP is a critical and indispensable asset, the above scenarios are no less serious than destroying critical revenue channels of your core business.

 

15 Initial Smart Budgeting Tips:

 

  1. Carefully select your external IP council, and demand a high level of transparency and control in all budget related matters.
  2. Be involved in managing your IP portfolio, to ensure that quality and relevance are maintained, and that costs do not get out of control.
  3. Have a dedicated (at least part time) IP manager to take responsibility for managing your internal IP related administration and development, and controlling your outside council’s performance and charges.
  4. Realize that IP related expenses are generally cyclical, so both ups and down in spending should be anticipated and used to your advantage.
  5. Ensure that if you are a  micro or small entity, you reap the benefits of lower fees, depending on your size and the respective jurisdictions in which you have filed applications.
  6. Consider using a carefully executed Provisional patent application filing strategy, especially for developments-in-process. Also consider the various prosecution highways between countries, which  may help speed up examination and reduce prosecution related expenses.
  7. Respond to deadlines in good time, to avoid unnecessary fines for late filings, last minute handling and rush jobs.
  8. Understand the alternatives when deciding where to patent, which associates to use, how to manage the internal and external IP players.
  9. Develop policies and a system of rules for delivering clear instructions internally and externally, to minimize confusion, mistakes and non-responsiveness.
  10. Get on top of the formalities, such as Assignments, form completion, document storage etc.
  11. Strive to file relevant applications only, with realistic claims, to aid faster and cleaner prosecution. ƒ
  12. Avoid excessive claiming, which often slows down prosecution and significantly increases costs, especially when filing internationally.
  13. When filing internationally, carefully consider the legal and economic importance of the foreign jurisdictions you are considering. Each unnecessary foreign filing may prove to be a significant drain on resources.
  14. Regularly audit your IP portfolio, and get rid of irrelevant or non-useful IP you have in your portfolio.
  15. Focus your patent portfolio on elements that can be commercially advantageous. Patent application are not justified for every cool idea you have, so spend your IP Dollars on cost effective and value generating families and files only!

 

Keep in mind that your intellectual property budget should not be considered overhead. It is part of an entity’s overall strategic plan and a generator of assets for the company. Make these assets work for you!

__________________________________________________________________

The writer is Yaron Damelin CEO of Patenting Solutions – Personal IP Management

 

Social Networking -Average American User : more than 3 Hours Per Day

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Posted on January 9, 2013 by Marketing Charts staff

Americans aged 18-64 who use social networks say they spend an average of 3.2 hours per day from a computer, tablet and/or mobile phone.

Specifically, among American social network users:

  • 18-34-year-olds report spending 3.8 hours a day;
  • 35-49-year-olds report spending 3 hours per day; and
  • 50-64-year-olds report spending 2.4 hours per day.

 Here are some other interesting facts:

Female social networkers spend almost 40% more time daily with social media sites than men (3.6 hours vs. 2.6 hours)

Those with low education levels spending more time than those with high education levels (3.5 vs. 3);

  • Business owners spending almost 50% more time than those who don’t a business (4.4 vs. 3);
  • Senior executives and decision-makers spending 40% more time than those not in that position (4.2 vs. 3); and
  • Unemployed social networkers spending 3.5 hours a day on social media, versus 3 hours for the employed.

Overall, 71% of respondents across the 24 countries reported using social networks for an average of 3.6 hours per day.

About the Data: The Ipsos data is based on a weighted sample size of 12,000, from an online survey conducted between November 6th and 20th, 2012 across 24 countries, with adults aged 18-64 in the US and Canada, and 16-64 in all other countries. The US data is based on a sample size of 500.

This article: Social Networking -Average American User : more than 3 Hours Per Day , was republished from marketingcharts.

consumers are spending more time accessing the internet from their mobile phones

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Posted on  January 9, 2013  article by: MarketingCharts staff

The percentage of website traffic coming from mobile devices jumped from 17.5% in Q3 2012 to 23.1% in Q4 2012, according to a new report from Walker Sands. That 23.1% share represents an 84% hike from 12.6% in Q4 2011, and is based on an examination of web consumers are spending more time accessing the internet from their mobile phones.

Results from a Prosper Mobile Insights survey released on Jan 2013 showed that 34.7% of American smartphone and tablet owners surveyed said they would spend more time this year with their devices,

The Walker Sands report also breaks down mobile traffic by platform, finding that 35% of traffic in Q4 2012 came from the iPhone. The share of traffic generated from the iPad was 17%, meaning that iOS devices accounted for a majority 52% share of mobile traffic.

Android and BlackBerry moved in the opposite direction, with Android share  of 43%,.

This article: consumers are spending more time accessing the internet from their mobile phones , was republished from marketingcharts.

 

 

 

 

מסלול חדש של המדען הראשי לחברות מו”פ

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עובדה ידועה היא כי חברות סטארט אפ העוסקות במחקר ופיתוח מתקשות בגיוס כספים מהשוק הפרטי. אני מעוניינת להביא בפניכם הוראת מנכ”ל חדשה שמטרתה ליצור מסלול חדש, שיפעל לעידוד השקעה בחברות מתחילות, שלא קיבלו בעבר תמיכה מלשכת המדען הראשי, במטרה לאפשר לחברות להמשיך ולפעול. ההתערבות הממשלתית הניתנת במסגרת מסלול זה נועדה לתת איתות חיובי למשקיעים ויצירת תמריץ להשקעה בחברות מתחילות העוסקות במחקר ופיתוח ויש להם משקל רב בעידוד הצמיחה ובהתפתחות התעשייה עתירת הידע במדינת ישראל.

במסגרת הוראות מסלול זה, המדען הראשי פועל להגדלת הוודאות לגבי התמיכות הממשלתיות במטרה לסייע להשקעה על ידי גורמים פרטיים.

הטבות התכנית:

– שיעור המענק הניתן לחברות יהיה קבוע ויעמוד על 50%.

– סך המימון שיוענק ע”י לא יעלה על סך של 5 מיליון ₪ לתקופה של עד 24 חודשים.

– יבחנו אישורים רב-שנתיים לתכניות מחקר ופיתוח של חברות מתחילות.

התנאים להשתתפות בתכנית:

– חברה ישראלית אשר במועד הפנייה למסלול לא חלפו שלוש שנים מיום התאגדותה.

– חברה אשר לא קיבלה תמיכות מהמדען הראשי בעבר, פרט לתמיכות במסגרת תכנית החממות ותנופה.

– היקף המכירות של החברה מיום הקמתה שלא עלה על חצי מליון ש”ח.

– היקף המימון שגייסה החברה וסך הוצאותיה. תנאים אלו משתנים בהתאם לתחומי הפעילות של החברה          והיסטוריית התמיכה מלשכת המדען הראשי.

  נשמח לסייע בכל שאלה או בחינה של זכאות להצטרפות לתכנית. (more…)

10 things entrepreneurs should do in the first 100 days of getting funding

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Posted on November 10, 2012 2:21 PM | article by: Matt Fates

Congratulations, you just sealed the deal on fresh capital for your startup. You’ve also just raised the bar on expectations and increased the pressure to perform.

Are you ready?

Most CEOs and founders already know how this new capital will be used, and assuming they have a high degree of confidence that the funding will close, they can get started on putting it to work ahead of time.

Here are some other high-level action items that should be on every to-do list in those crucial first three months:

1. Celebrate victories: Not in an expensive way, but in a team-building way. Share the news with your employees. Explain the potential and also share the credit, ensuring everyone is aligned and pulling 100 percent toward the same goals. This is a great way to reward and recognize the hard work of your team and to excite them at a time when everyone needs step up.

2. Show gratitude: Not just to your new investors. Thank any customers or partners who were helpful during due diligence, and make sure they are up to date on your expanded plans and potential. The people you leaned on to get to this point most likely will be valuable resources going forward.

3. Integrate: On-board your new investors and board members thoughtfully. Consider hosting a reception to better connect them to other board members and your management team. This gets the relationship off to a good start and will quicken productive communications between all parties.

4. Communicate: Don’t rely on board meetings alone. Get the most out of your new investors by setting up regular interactions, be they weekly or monthly breakfasts, parties, beers, or other gatherings.

5. Move Fast: Be the first to announce your own news. Don’t let it leak out via SEC filings, which reporters and bloggers regularly mine for stories. Make sure you get the most out of your announcement and consult with public relations specialists if you don’t have any on your team.

6. Reconnect: You have likely been distracted by the intense fund-raising effort. Make sure you take the time to sync back up with all your key team members and business partners.

7. Build: Hire the best people you can find. Many startups are tech-driven, but in truth it comes down to people who really make it happen. Always be in recruiting mode, but particularly when you have fresh capital and buzz to leverage and plans to achieve. Ask board members and investors for staff recommendations — they likely have good connections, have a vested interest in your success, and can introduce you to promising candidates.

8. Leverage: Consider adding to your ‘war chest’ with some venture debt. Debt does not make sense in all scenarios, but the easiest time to get a lender to provide capital is when you have just closed a round of equity.

9. Stay Lean: Remember this is expensive capital. Make it last. Spend what you have to, when you have to, and no sooner.

10. Perform: Meet or beat your near-term goals, be they in sales, development, or recruiting. Don’t make the new investors question their decision right out of the gate. Be clear with your backers about what the first 100 days will look like and then deliver. This is always important, but particularly right after funding.

Add these all up on top of running your company, and you clearly have a tall order. But your team and your new investors have faith in you. So get going!

This article ,10 things entrepreneurs should do in the first 100 days of getting funding  , was re-published from VentureBeat.

How to choose Advisors for your Startup?

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Posted on January  2, 2012 | Article by Naveen Bisht, Charter Member of TIE Silicon Valley SiliconIndia Magazine, Monday, January 9, 2012
 
We know, most start-ups have a Board of Advisors, but who are they and what are their roles and responsibilities? I highly recommend that start-ups not only have Board of Advisors, but also make full use of their expertise, strategic advice, and network. I will focus on four key take away (4KTA) points on this topic, based on my own experience, and other entrepreneurs that I’ve been associated with over the years.
1.Understanding Roles and Responsibilities –
 
How do you define a Board of Advisors? The Board of Advisors consists of individuals willing to help and advise the start-up founder based on their expertise. They give access to expertise that the company may not have, increase accountability for moving one step closer to its goals and help the team think strategically leading to improved decision making. A start-up advisory board usually consists of 4 to 6 individuals who meet periodically but don’t have legal responsibility for operations. There are two types of advisors that I have used – Business and Technology Advisors. Business Advisors help with Funding strategy and contacts, introducing to customer prospects and companies that can eventually be strategic partners and act as a selling channel for the product and services. Technical Advisors are domain experts, either from academia or companies and doing cutting edge research. They provide guidance on technical approach, sounding off ideas, and validating if the team is heading in the right direction.
2. Finding and Recruiting –
 
How and where do you find and then, recruit your Board of Advisors? The first thing to do is to determine who you would like as an advisor, based on your needs. Now to get them on board, you get an introduction through someone who knows them, or try to meet them at professional events such as The Indus Entrepreneur (TiE) events, TiECon, and other industry events. Upon meeting your target advisor, ask him or her directly, if they would consider being on your advisory board. My experience tell you directly is that they will tell you if they may be interested or have a conflict. If there is no conflict of interest, request a follow up meeting to discuss expectations and next steps.
 
For first time entrepreneurs, my recommendation is, to find a former entrepreneur who has successfully exited a company, either by selling it to a larger company, or by taking it public. Ideally, this person has gone through the entire process of founding a company, recruiting a team, raising capital, leading product development, and launching it successfully. This advisor can help you on funding and product strategies, as well as strategic industry contacts. If you can’t find someone with this background, then find multiple advisors, each with a unique expertise. For instance, one being an expert in marketing, business development and industry contacts our experts, one in funding sources. With un understanding of your market can easily introduce customers and industry partners. These partners can become selling channels for products and be potential candidates for acquiring your company. Partnering with a large corporation helps in four ways – First, in validating your technology, product and market segment. Second, it implies a product gap in their portfolio and hence, the need to sell your product as part of an overall solution. Third, should this partner decide to own this technology, they could acquire your company and hence, an exit strategy for you and investors. Fourth, citing a large company as strategic partner to new customers becomes a great reference and selling tool. For recruiting technical advisors, you can directly contact university professors, who are experts in your domain. My experience is that they are approachable and open to working with entrepreneurs. For recruiting technical advisors from industry, use similar strategy, as mentioned earlier in this section.
3. Setting and Managing Expectations –
 
What do you expect from your Board of Advisors? One key lesson that I learned from an angel investor in my first company was about setting and managing expectations. It is important that expectations are defined and agreed clearly upfront to avoid any misunderstanding later. Now, managing them is even more critical to ensure that these move in the right direction for achieving your goals. Many entrepreneurs don’t follow up after signing up an advisor. My recommendation is to contact them proactively and frequently to ensure that progress is being made. In general, most entrepreneurs are happy to share their hard learned lessons, experiences and mistakes. Believe me, you can learn a lot from their mistakes instead of repeating them yourself thereby losing time, money and resources. The next step is to have signed advisory agreements in place. You can get these from your legal counsel. These agreements provide in detail the role and responsibilities, expected length of agreement, expected hours of work every month, compensation, non-disclosure and termination clauses, etc.
4. Compensating for Services –
 
How do you compensate your Board of Advisors? Most entrepreneurs you seek out to be your advisors already know that start-up companies are low in cash and are always looking for money. They understand it well, and therefore, they are fine in getting paid in some equity and hence, being a partner in your success. If you have to pay cash for advisory services, then keep it to a very low amount. The equity granted for the advisory services depends upon the expectations agreed upon and the amount of time. The standard equity structures for compensating advisors can be obtained from a legal counsel experienced in working with venture capital funded start-up companies. Of course, you need to figure out how important an advisor is to your company at that particular stage. If you are an early stage start-up, the equity percentage may be higher. Successful entrepreneurs willing to serve as advisors are quite reasonable in their expectations and also know the equity structures professional investors expect and invest in. Hence, they will ensure that it is not out of line from typical norms in the industry.
 
In summary, my four 4KTA (four key take away) points in creating an excellent Board of Advisors are understanding roles and responsibilities, finding and recruiting, setting and managing expectations, and compensating for services.
 
This article, How to choose Advisors for your Startup, was re-published from TiE Global.

5 Ways to Get Your Startup in the Press

BKadmin

Posted on June 11, 2012 7:12 pm | article by: Zach Cutler, CEO The Cutler Group.

One of the most important strategies of a public relations campaign is obtaining press coverage. While advertising comes with a price and is often ignored by consumers, one thing I have learned as CEO of tech PR firm Cutler Group is that press coverage offers tremendous value and can boost credibility in the eyes of prospective clients and/or investors. Rather than paying to be put on the back page of a magazine, startups should instead aim to grab a spot on the front cover. Simply put: Ad space is bought, while editorial space is earned, that is if you have a good story to tell and can capture reporters’ attention.

But getting an article written about your company can be difficult. There are millions of stories out there and yours — by nature of it being from you — is probably biased in the eyes of a journalist or writer or blogger. The trick is to convince a publication that your story is worth telling from their perspective.

Fortunately, there are five concrete steps you can take to get your startup covered by the press. The time and effort committed towards obtaining good press will likely be well spent — being featured in a premier publication like Forbes, for example, can provide validation, increased visibility amongst the website’s (and magazine’s) viewers and new business for your company.

1) Have a good story to tell.

If you know the types of publications that would cover your startup’s story, make sure it’s a good one, something you might expect to see on their pages. Ensure that the story is relevant to readers of the publication — meaning it should either be tied to a current event or trend, or be in and of itself significant news in that industry (a funding or acquirement announcement, for example).

2) Craft a professional, catchy press release to tell that story.

Your press release should be written like a news story — to the point, short and objective. One page is optimal for a press release, and two pages is the absolute maximum. It should be proofread heavily before its release for flaws in style, grammar, spelling and tone. Most of all, it should convey why this is important to the publication’s readers — explain the implications this story could have on the company and the industry as a whole.

3) Research publications — and specific writers at those publications — covering similar stories.

This is where much of the strategy lies. You need to put in your research to figure out which publications would be interested in your company. Even more time should be put toward understanding which reporters cover the beat your company falls under — you don’t want to pitch a startup announcement to the writer who reports broad economic trends, for example. Pick 15-20 publications you’d like to be in, then comb through those choices for writers who would cover your company.

4) Find the contact information for those reporters and reach out to them personally.

There are several ways to find the contact information of the writers you wish to
correspond with. Those with the funds to spare can use tools such as Cision and Vocus — subscription software that contains media databases. For bootstrapping types, you can always call up the publication directly, or scour the web for their email addresses and telephone numbers. Once you have this information, send out brief pitches detailing your story and encouraging them to contact you for more information.

5) Be persistent in following up until you secure the story.

It’s all in the close! Following up with the writers you’ve contacted is just as important as your original pitch. Simply casting a wide net and hoping to pull in an interested writer probably won’t cut it. Reporters are always looking for good stories — however, they are often overwhelmed with pitches and are short on time. Ensure that they’ve seen your email and remind them to get back to you. If the story is good and the press release is well executed, they likely won’t mind being emailed multiple times — they may, in fact, thank you for it once the story publishes and gets many views!

This article ,5 Ways to Get Your Startup in the Press, was re-published from Huffingtonpost.

9 Sales Lessons for Startups; Experiences of an Entrepreneur

BKadmin
Posted on 15 November  2012 | article by: Kunal Gandhi and Gunjan Agrawal
Will a customer dip in to his/her wallet to take out cash to buy your product – that is the litmus test for most start-ups and their efforts. Often, most of us are afraid of taking this litmus test.
We, at SchoolCountry, have always considered ourselves as “non sales” type people, if there is such a thing. Novice, introvert, shy and mostly fresh out of college! The entire team can be categorized as a newbie when it comes to having “selling skills”. Over the past 14 months we have defined our guiding principles based on our experience, customer feedback and interactions. Here are the top 9 of those.
1. As a founder, you need to do it yourself first: You cannot shy away from selling. You can always hire people to join your sales team. However, selling will happen, like most other things, when you lead from the front. This not only gives you the valuable feel of the market but also communicates to your team that you are confident of your product. That your product works and if they stay put at it, it will work, they will succeed at it.
2. Selling is not about “bewkoof banana” or “kaat diya”: Sales is an honest process of bringing together a customer with a problem and a great solution for that problem. The value of the money he/she pays for the product will be less than the value the product brings to the customer. In fact, your commission or profit per product will be far lesser than the value derived by customer as long as it is an honest sale.
3. You and your entire sales team should own your product before you sell it: When you can buy your own product or confidently and without guilt recommend it to your loved ones, you will be confident of selling and in fact proud of selling. This is true for most products unless you are selling a military tank or a very expensive car that you cannot yet afford
4. You are selling 24/7 and not just to your customers: You do not only sell to customers but you also sell to your team, your parents, friends, suppliers, landlord,…. you get the drift. You sell when you hire, you sell when you buy. You sell why others must believe in you and your product. You sell your enthusiasm and why they must also get excited by your product. This is infectious and really spreads better than facebook!
5. Selling is not only about your product: Often selling is about you. You sell your thinking and conviction. You sell your personality. When selling, you are asking the buyer to trust you and what you are telling him. Over time, companies replace “sales person” with a brand-name by investing in brand building. But at the start, it is mostly you i.e. the sales person. The customers will look for signs of why and how they can trust you.
6. Sell early: This has been said often and I am a true believe based on our experience. Start selling your idea to people you meet (trains, planes, friendly discussions, start up meetings….) and you will learn immensely from the discussions. Do not wait for the nth iteration. Sell your product from the 1st version onwards, in fact prototype onwards. Most of the time, you cannot imagine a perfect product alone and neither can a customer explain it on his/her own. It is a joint effort where customer experiences your first version and you jointly improve it.
7. NOW is a great time to sell: Not after you do the disk clean up, not after you finish that long pending accounting entry and not after you have had a chance to think. The best time is now!
8. Selling is good: Sales is a great profession. As a salesman, you are not “below” the customer. You are honestly solving a real problem for someone. You are not below anyone just because you are trying to sell it to him or her. Just imagine last time you were thankful to a salesman for the great product he/she introduced you to.
9. Sales and Service all go together: It is ethically and strategically wrong to separate selling from servicing. You incentivise your sales guy to sell the moon and then run away. Left behind are 2 poor chaps. There a customer who is struggling to find the moon and there is a support representative who is trying to make the customer believe that is actually the moon. Instead, make the sales team also responsible for support (it is perfectly possible). Now things will begin to fall in place. Sales guy will promise right things. He will also stay close to the customer and will be clued in to the future opportunities that may arise.
These are things that we, “non sales” people have learnt in our journey at SchoolCountry. We have been influenced by our customers, team members, our readings and discussions.
About the Author:
The views and ideas are shared experiences of Kunal Gandhi and Gunjan Agrawal, cofounders at SchoolCountry.com. SchoolCountry is developing a new ways to make learning more effective in our classrooms and homes, with the current focus on math.
 
The article , 9 Sales Lessons for Startups; Experiences of an Entrepreneur,                                                                                     was re-published from yourstory.in

What Do Startups Need Most Right Now?

BKadmin

  Posted on November 2012 | article by Tim Devaney and Tom Stein

For startups, it is the best of times and it is the worst of times. It’s easier than ever to launch a company these days. But because there are so many new companies, it’s harder than ever for startups to survive. There just aren’t enough resources to support them all.

To stay in the game, startups need three things:

  1. Money
  2. Talent
  3. Customers

But with competition so intense, founders are finding it extremely difficult to attract those vital ingredients.

Naval Ravikant is the founder of AngelList, which connects new startups with funding and talent. Recently he asked the entrepreneurs who use his service what things they need and how hard it is for them to get those things. The results of his informal survey show a lot of startups are going hungry.

What Startup Resource Is Hardest To Find Right Now

“In the past, funding was the biggest need but today it’s recruiting,” says Ravikant, himself a serial entrepreneur who founded Epinions and Vast.com, and currently runs HitForge and Venture Hacks, in addition to AngelList.

After recruiting comes funding, then advisers. “That’s followed by social-media marketing and press, which really is another way of saying, ‘We need lots of customers.’ After that comes cofounders, which

is really interesting.”

Interesting because, although cofounders is halfway down the needs list, the fact that it’s there at all is yet another indicator of how difficult it now is for startups to bring talent onboard.

“In a frothy environment it becomes so hard to recruit people that you start having to expand your cofounding team,” Ravikant says. “It was similar back in the dotcom days. Epinions, which we started in 1998, had five cofounders instead of two, primarily because it was really hard to recruit early-stage employees without giving them cofounder equity.”

Top Startup Needs:

1. Talent

2. Funding

3. Advisers

4. Social-media marketing

5. Press

6. Cofounders

7. Board members

8. Salespeople

9. PR help

10. Office space, lawyers, accountants

Product/Market Fit Is Key

Not all startups have a tough time pulling talent, however. Ravikant says there are a special few with a magic ingredient that automatically attracts top people: product-market fit. “If you’ve just raised $250,000, big deal – so have lots of other companies. If you’ve just come out of an accelerator program, big deal -so have lots of other companies. It’s companies that have product-market fit that are able to recruit employees. Everyone else is recruiting cofounders.”

Funding is the same. Cash flows to startups that have product-market fit- and trickles to those that don’t.

“Raising money has gotten more difficult in the last few months, especially compared to the last few years,” Ravikant says. “There were tons of companies launched in the last few years and the amount of series-A VC has not gone up. So it’s only companies with real breakout traction that can raise new rounds, while everyone else can’t.”

Millions Of Users

Seed funds and angels are tired of casting a wide net and hoping one minnow grows into a whale. They’d rather shoot fish in a barrel. So the serious funding now goes to companies that get to millions of users very fast, especially on the consumer side.

Takeaway: if you’re an unproven startup, set your sights on $250,000 in funding – max – and expect to treat everyone on the team as a cofounder. It’s no longer a realistic option to load the cubicles with employees and then go in search of product-market fit.

The New Math

The upside to this new math: Most startups these days don’t need a shedload of investment.

“It’s possible we’ll see a downturn in overall funding and an increase in the number of startups, just because the amount of money startups need continues to decline,” Ravikant says. “What I do think is changing, however, is that startups will be seen more as experiments than businesses capable of being backed by venture capital, at least until they’ve really proven something.”

A few years ago, you just had to be in the game to win funding and talent. Now, Ravikant suggests, the startup world is returning to a more traditional script: To the victor go the spoils.

 .This article , What Do Startups Need Most Right Now? was re-published from readwrite

Small Business Marketing Guide for Entrepreneurs

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Posted on November 2nd, 2012 | article by: Chris Woodward

As an entrepreneur, you undoubtedly have many questions about what to do first to market your business. A small business marketing guide provides a wealth of information to make sure you optimally position yourself for success.

A small business marketing guide shows you step by step how to strategically market your products and services.

Who Are You? Before you can create a successful marketing plan, you need to use your small business marketing guide to help define you’re:

Goals: What do you want to achieve in the first month? The first six months? The first year? Your time and budget will influence how quickly you can implement your plan. Don’t be afraid to set big goals for your business, but be realistic based on your time and budget.

Target market: Who will buy your products and services? What are their concerns and top priorities? You can’t begin to market yourself until you know to whom you’re marketing.

Benefits: What makes your business different from your competition? In addition to identifying all of the benefits of your products/services, a small business marketing guide will help you develop your unique selling proposition (USP). A USP is your number one key differentiator that makes people wants to do business with you instead of your competition.

What Is Your Plan? The next step is to develop a plan based on the many different ways you can market your business to your target audience. A small business marketing guide assists with:

Defining and prioritizing marketing strategies and tools: Websites and blogs, article marketing, direct marketing (print and email), marketing materials, media exposure, social and in-person networking, client events, and trade shows are a few of the many ways a small business marketing guide will show you how to market your business. Your type of business, products/services, target market, and other key factors will determine which of these activities will be most effective.

Developing a marketing plan/calendar: After you define the best strategies for your business, it’s time to develop a basic marketing plan describing when and how you will execute your strategies each month. A small business marketing guide provides examples of marketing plans and how to use your marketing calendar to ensure you consistently market your business to your target market.

Who Will Help Implement Your Plans? Once you have developed your marketing plan and strategies, you’ll want to assess what you can do yourself and what resources you’ll need to assist you with:

Getting started: In addition to using your small business marketing guide, you may want to hire a small business marketing coach to help you gain clarity in all areas of your business. You also want to pay close attention to your branding, which is essentially the face of your business. Unless you’re a designer by trade, hire an expert to develop your corporate identity, logo, business card, and letterhead.

Gathering the right resources: In addition to graphic design services, there may be several other areas of your business that could benefit from a professional so you can focus on your core business. A small business marketing guide will provide numerous suggestions for professional services, including Web design, copywriting, Internet marketing, email marketing, photography, printing, video production, and much more.

 This article: Small Business Marketing Guide for Entrepreneurs, was re-published from      Marketing plan info.