Here are the notes that I took during the Invention 2 Venture at Penn State University on November 10th, 2007. The event was an 8 hour workshop on a Saturday to help students who are interested in entrepreneurship. Some speakers who were present were Woody Norris, Matt Brezina of Xobni.com, and Dan Veltri of Weebly.com.
Is technology entrepreneurship for you?
- Many entrepreneurs fail because they are too stingy or choose the wrong partners.
- Higher education is now the keystone to invention because all the easy stuff has already been invented.
- Necessary steps in invention: a) think hard and plan the target market, b) find an investor, c) tink thoroughly about the concept to see if it is technologically feasible or if it already has been attempted.
- Invent by analogy: find something that works in one area and apply it to another area.
- Turning an invention into money is the most difficult part
- Biggest fault of an inventor is not sticking with the invention
- Don’t mind sharing the money with investors, lawyers, etc.
- How to connect with investors: VC firms, bankers, stock brokers
Incredible idea.. or real business?
- Start with the money. Look for an existing marketplace where there is “pain” and find a solution.
- If you don’t have the technical know-how, find an inventor who can provide the solution
- Get the problem statement right and everything else will fall into place
- When pitching a product, seasoned entrepreneurs do not mention the product first; instead, they pitch the problem and the market before even mentioning the product
- Technology push is not the way to go
- You can find the right product by just being observant and finding the pain
- Another way to find a product is to do something better, fast, cheaper
- Invention by analogy: SmartPack.com used experiences in the hospital to create a horse feeding business.
- Don’t expect to succeed on the first time out
- If you want higher rewards, take more risks
- Failure is god as long as you learn from them
- Disclosure is 99% of the ethical problem
Marketing and sales for early stage companies
- Facebook apps are a great case study
- Make it so users can easily refer friends
- Use users as advertisers
- Selfish spread: users are more likely to adopt a product when a friend tells him or her about it
- Make users curious
- People buy solutions to problems and needs (can also be perceived need
- Market may be huge but focus must be specific. Focus on the people who KNOW they have the problem
- Find the channel of least resistance
- What are you selling?
- Who are you selling to?
- Why should they buy from you?
- How to sell it to them?
- When will you sell it?
Building the team
- Pick invstors who will bring experience, contacts, ideas, and a desire to be involved
- Outsource what you can, especially high-quality lawyers
- Embracing change = success
- Management team evolution: a) growing faster = stay, b) growing with = challenge, c) growing slower = fired
- To grow your team: 1) define your exit strategy, 2) mentors, 3) support, 4) management team
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Is technology entrepreneurship for you?
Many entrepreneurs fail because they are too stingy or choose the wrong partners.
BS- Entrepreneurs fail because they run out of money. Period. Bad ideas rarely even get to the starting line. There is a business in every good idea, just maybe not big enough to attract investment.
Higher education is now the keystone to invention because all the easy stuff has already been invented.
1/2 BS - education, yes - everything easy has been invented, WRONG. YouTube, Facebook?
Necessary steps in invention: a) think hard and plan the target market, b) find an investor, c) tink thoroughly about the concept to see if it is technologically feasible or if it already has been attempted.
BS - What if there is no market yet? You are going to create it. Screw looking for an investor unless you need the money. Spend 10 minutes on Google to see if it has been done (doesn’t mean you can’t do it better)
Invent by analogy: find something that works in one area and apply it to another area.
OK - I agree
Turning an invention into money is the most difficult part
Duh
Biggest fault of an inventor is not sticking with the invention
BS - who causes this? Potential investors make you change the biz model to suit their conceived notions.
Don’t mind sharing the money with investors, lawyers, etc.
BS - You should mind. They will take advantage of you if they can.
How to connect with investors: VC firms, bankers, stock brokers
Good luck.
Incredible idea.. or real business?
Start with the money. Look for an existing marketplace where there is “pain” and find a solution.
OK, but again, what if there isn’t a market currently for what you do, because if your idea is truly revolutionary, there isn’t one. So, do you quit?
If you don’t have the technical know-how, find an inventor who can provide the solution
BS - but if it your idea, you ARE the inventor, the other guy is just product development.
Get the problem statement right and everything else will fall into place
OK, if you idea is an existing problem solver, but not if it is a market maker
When pitching a product, seasoned entrepreneurs do not mention the product first; instead, they pitch the problem and the market before even mentioning the product
You knew this already I hope.
Technology push is not the way to go
What the f**k did they mean by that?
You can find the right product by just being observant and finding the pain
Ok, again if you are solving an existing problem.
Another way to find a product is to do something better, fast, cheaper
Ok
Invention by analogy: SmartPack.com used experiences in the hospital to create a horse feeding business.
Ok
Don’t expect to succeed on the first time out
Why not? Don’t go in expecting failure, then you will do a half-assed job.
If you want higher rewards, take more risks
Duh
Failure is god as long as you learn from them
Failure is never good, but you might as well learn…what else are you going to do.
Disclosure is 99% of the ethical problem
What?
Marketing and sales for early stage companies
Facebook apps are a great case study
Make it so users can easily refer friends
Use users as advertisers
Selfish spread: users are more likely to adopt a product when a friend tells him or her about it
Make users curious
People buy solutions to problems and needs (can also be perceived need
Market may be huge but focus must be specific. Focus on the people who KNOW they have the problem
Don’t agree. Most people don’t know they have a problem.
Find the channel of least resistance
Dumb, isn’t that where all the competition will be, too?
What are you selling?
Basic
Who are you selling to?
Basic
Why should they buy from you?
Basic
How to sell it to them?
Basic
When will you sell it?
As soon as some one pulls out their wallet thats when.
Building the team
Pick invstors who will bring experience, contacts, ideas, and a desire to be involved
You will probably not have the luxury of PICKING your investors. They pick you if your lucky (or maybe not lucky)
Outsource what you can, especially high-quality lawyers
BS - Avoid lawyers for as long as you can. Outsourcing costs money and you have none. Do everything you can yourself for as long as you can.
Embracing change = success
YES!!
Management team evolution: a) growing faster = stay, b) growing with = challenge, c) growing slower = fired
To grow your team: 1) define your exit strategy, 2) mentors, 3) support, 4) management team
Whatever. Start the company.
LOL, thanks for tearing apart my notes.
By the way, what the speaker meant by “technology push” is creating a product that you believe is groundbreaking but the market isn’t really ready for. You’ll have a hard time “pushing” the technology into people’s faces to try to get them to adapt it.
So PSU paid Woody Norris ten grand or something to be the keynote speaker at I2V. Would have been nice if he hung around to answer questions. He blew out of there right after and blew me off outside the HUB.
I am highly upset that I did not know this event was going on. Definitely would have been there.
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