Entrepreneurial Advice, Motivation & Startup Strategies

When looking at launching a new business idea you should consider what levels of intellectual property protection are open to you. Here is a run down of the different types of Intellectual Property you could consider protecting and the limitations.

Copyright

This one is automatic, any original written works, graphic artwork and computer software is automatically copyright of the author. These Intellectual Property rights last for the lifetime of the author plus 70 years. Copyright can be assigned to another individual and often forms part of a trade sale deal. To enforce copyright you should put the the copyright symbol and date of creation on the original works. So taking a website for example you should put the symbol plus date and name of the owner of copyright (this can be a company). It is also worth following with a All rights reserved notice to deter potential infringes.

Trademark

This form of Intellectual Property is used to protect brand names, trading styles and logos. Registered tradmarks offer protection indefinitely and can be easily enforced. Even the mighty Google couldn’t use Gmail as a trading identity in the UK because another company had already registered it. This is a good example of the power of registering your trademark. The process of registering a trademark in the US or UK is relatively straightforward and can be largely automated via applications to Government agencies. However it can be costly to trademark in every territory in the world and this would definitely require professional help.

Design Rights

If you are launching a new product you may be able to protect it’s design. This applies to the appearance of any product, not just aesthetic designs. This protection lasts for 25 years and much like copyright is automatic. It may be worth simply posting yourself copyrighted and dated design blueprints and then storing these in a safe place or lodging them with your legal advisor, if there is ever a dispute then you can prove that you were the originator by the date of the postmark.

Patents

This is the most contentious of Intellectual Property. New products and processes can be protected for up to 20 years by patents provided that they are unique and inventive. Computer systems and software for controlling technical equipment can often be protected via patents. However in the UK computer source code is often very difficult to patent. The best piece of advice I have been given is to call the UK Intellectual Property Office directly and try to talk with a Patent examiner who specialises in software patents.

An invention must be filed for patent application before non confidential disclosure. The patent office will then make searches and assess the potential uniqueness of the invention. The great thing about patents is that when you application is pending no one can beat you to market with the same idea as you are ahead of them in the queue.

Confidential Business Data

Confidential information, such as know-how and customer details, may be protected from improper disclosure or use under the laws relating to breach of confidence. If you need to disclose sensitive business information in dealings with suppliers then it pays to have them sign a NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement).

This is by no means an exhaustive explaination of everything relating to Intellectual Property but it gives you a decent overview of what protections are available to you. Traditionally Investors look for good Intellectual Property protection being in place before investment being made, however with Internet Startups for example full protection is not always possible. Ebay couldn’t protect their IP because of the nature of what they are doing, but they still got investment due to their phenomenal growth potential.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and this article is no substitute for seeking professional legal advice.

Last week I was at the Startup Event at Olympia in London. One of the guest seminar speakers was Brad Rosser, currently a Business Angel and running a successful property investment service. Brad previously worked along side Sir Richard Branson helping to build the Virgin empire.

One interesting view he had, in particular relating to internet/technology startups was the fact that you should concentrate at launching when 80% ready.

I find this concept very interesting, I am sure a lot of entrepreneurs are like me and are striving for perfection, wanting to add on that extra AJAX element or killer feature that will blow the competition out of the water. Brad’s view is that when faced with the decision to start launching now or holding off and waiting for the perfect product you should always get the product out there. I have to say I totally agree.

I am not saying I agree with launching a product with the label Beta when it isn’t even ready for initial testing but if your product is at a stage when users can start benefiting from it then it is time to bring it to market.

Talking from my experience a lot of founders (including myself) tend to focus heavily on the backend when launching a new business venture. Brad’s view is, particularly at launch the entrepreneur should pour all energies in to the front end promotional aspects of building the brand and getting it in front of the people that matter.

Of course you will also have the added benefit of using your early adopter feedback to make further improvements, additional features that you may not yet of even thought of. You will be surprised what directions your creative mind may go in when reacting to feedback from these initial users.

Having a solid team behind your venture is essential. The entrepreneur’s role is a lonely one, if you guys are anything like me you often have your head in the clouds dreaming of new ideas, we all need a reality check from time to time and this is where having at least one other person involved in the business gives much needed balance.

So who do I have? Well there is Carey Baird, Edge Ventures lead developer. He’s my voice of reason, he tells me straight if I am getting carried away with my ideas and ensures I stay focused on the task at hand. I also have Mark Parry who is very much like me, he shares my entrepreneurial drive and enthusiasm and often helps me to come up with new directions for my projects which I hadn’t realised myself.

Getting good people along side you not only grounds you and encourages you to focus, it adds a lot of strength to your pitch for investment. Investors look for a good team behind the project, people that have different qualities which complement each other and the founder.

Here’s the tricky thing, finding these good people! I have been involved with the internet professionally since 2004 and one of my main problems is finding good, reliable developers. Now there are many very talented programmers around but for your project to be a success you really need to find a programmer who has the self motivation to really think around problems using there own initiative. Of course my own experience is in web tech but the same concept applies to every business.

People make the business

In my experience it is better to wait until you find the right people, no matter how painful it is. This time last year I was looking to recruit an assistant to help me organise my web development workload and free up some time for me to build on projects I had started. I set aside a day for interviews but not one of the candidates had anything about them, now perhaps I was expecting too much but I was just looking for someone with a bit of spark about them, some drive to help me build my business and the willingness to roll their sleeves up and pitch in when the chips were down. In the end I got so bored with the interview process and was drained to the point that I just picked the best of a poor bunch. Let’s just say it didn’t work out and I learned a powerful lesson.

I have this view that if you find someone with that energy and enthusiasm but they are perhaps lacking in commercial experience then it may well be worth taking a punt on them. Drive, energy and enthusiasm can’t be faked (like some of the things people mention on their resumé). Of course it is better to find a Carey who has the energy and enthusiasm combined with the experience. It is tricky but it is well worth the effort to find these cornerstones.

When you find someone decent don’t be afraid of offering profit share incentives. Investors will appreciate that there are others with a vested interest in seeing the business become successful and your team will be dedicated to the cause. We can all learn a lot of lessons from Google in this regard.

The search giant Google has joined forces with some of the major website institutions such as LinkedIn, Salesforce.com and Plaxo, as well as major social network sites like Friendster, Ning & Hi5 (and now MySpace). The OpenSocial collaboration has been seen as a way to mirror the success of Facebook widgets. OpenSocial has been designed to streamline the process of getting widgets and apps running across disparate websites.

OpenSocial apps leverage existing web technologies such as HTML and JavaScript so time to market for these apps is minimal making it an exciting area to explore for web developers looking for a new project.

There is huge potential in the viral marketing business areas for developers to leverage. There have already been some serious Facebook app successes from iLike, Flixter, and Slide. These guys have been quick to jump on board with OpenSocial which is in itself a good indication of the business benefits this collaboration could bring.

I don’t believe there have been too many shining examples of Social Media Apps to date so there is certainly room for a killer app that has the very real potential of being downloaded millions of times.

I hope this news gives some developers reading this inspiration to play around with the new technology. I am sure the Investors on board with Edge Venture will be very interested in hearing about your ideas.

What possitive attributes do successful startups share? Here is a short rundown of some of my observations of what characteristics these startups have in common.

Create a market

Successful startups create new markets, exploit existing markets and adapt what other, more established businesses are doing in their current business space.

Are interesting to Business Angels & VCs

Successful startups are often appealing to investors because of their growth potential and unique take on existing problems.

Is innovative and pushes the boundaries

Successful startups push the boundries of the norm, they make people take a step back and think “why didn’t I think of that?” and “I’ve never seen anything like that before”

Are flexible and nimble

Successful startups can adapt to market changes much faster than their larger more established competition. They also react to customer feedback and grow their systems and business processes before they have become too large to be as agile.

Has a grand vision and plan

Successful startups have a clear vision of where they want to be and how to get there. They plan out a serious of milestone achievements which culminate in the execution of their grand master plan.

Their idea is not easily replicated

Successful startups ideas are hard to replicate this appeals to investors who are looking for good Intellectual Property protection. The combination of clear vision and strategies to achieve the goals leads to the market traction that investors love.

This is the first post of the Edge Venture blog. I hope this blog becomes an invaluable resource for those thinking of starting up or already on the road to success. I don’t pretend to be an expert on entrepreneurialism but I do feel I have valuable views to share with the startup community and really want to learn from some of the great bloggers out there already paving the way.

My aims for this blog are to share insights and stimulate discussion about the topics that really matter to entrepreneurs today. I will try and make every post as informative and interesting as I can. I also hope to chart and document the growth of my very own startup, Edge Venture.

I wont be blogging everyday but will rather concentrate on writing quality, informative content. I will try and keep up with the latest goings on in the startup scene and report on them as well as finding nuggets of useful information to publish.

If you have any feedback for me at all, good or bad I would love to hear from you. Please email me at info [at] edge-venture [dot] com.

Thanks and Regards

Trevor Walsh
Founder & CEO - Edge Venture Ltd