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Clarity

Gordon Freedman

Ontario, Los Altos

I have built and exited high tech startups and raised many millions of dollars in financing. My focus is strategy and team/product/story alignment. I leave many of the operational details to others.

I have helped companies to focus on their customers, to build IP portfolios and to create billions of dollars in value.

$8.33/min

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22 minutes
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Start-ups Venture Capital Strategic Planning Business Strategy Intellectual Property Negotiation Licensing Strategic Partnerships Patents Trademarks

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I help companies define business and product/service strategies to allow for monetisationa nd long term growth

Intellectual Property

I am an intellectual property expert with over 20 years experience at building and managing IP portfolios.

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Answers

Gordon Freedman answered

Starting two businesses at once. Is it recommended for a new entrepreneur?

If you are considering two different businesses, don't do either. When the business is right for you, it will be the only one. Entrepreneurship can be like marriage in that way.

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Start Ups

Entrepreneurship

Internet Entrepreneur

Gordon Freedman answered

What is the best way to cultivate intros and leads into Fortune 500 companies?

I use my linked in subscription and am always surprised by how easy it is to get a reply. It is a lot of work, but much easier than in the days of showing up in the lobby.

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Sales Process

Lead Generation

Sales Funnel Optimization

Gordon Freedman answered

Is it possible to receive trademark protection prior to registering my mark?

yes. Many jurisdictions have rights in a mark that arise simply from use. That said, it is not the same as the rights flowing from registration and in some jurisdictions, it is not available.

A quick call to a trademark lawyer should allow you to clear up if the rights you get through use are sufficient for your purposes.

Note: Branding and brand strategy is the most overlooked aspect to starting a business and a little expense now can save you a whole lot of problems later on.

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Trademarks

Intellectual Property

Gordon Freedman answered

Angel Investors & VCs: What inspires you to invest?

I used to invest in business plans and ideas. I gave that up pretty quickly as it is a failing model. I now invest in the following:
profit
revenue
customer lists
my enjoyment at working with the team.

That is it.

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Fundraising

Finance

Venture Capital

Gordon Freedman answered

I have a game for iOS named "The Robbery". What can I do find investment to improve the game, and to have a good marketing campaign?

Great answer Dan. I will add to the list, find people who are influential in the game space and cold call them too. Their feedback is more important than their money, but you may get both.

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Marketing Strategy

Fundraising

Funding

Gordon Freedman answered

Looking for help in selling technology product to Towns in US and Canada.

Hello,

I work with someone who used to work for a municipal umbrella organisation of Canadian municipalities. When I want to sell to municipalities, I rely on his contacts. This is one of the fastest and easiest ways to get in front of them.

I suggest finding the right person to help introduce you to the organisations and to help hone your pitch beforehand to increase the likelihood of success.

The political process and sales effort is different from consumer or BtoB sales efforts and, as such, I wouldn't directly pitch them based on my other business models or sales models.

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Marketing Strategy

Sales

Marketing

Gordon Freedman answered

What are some strategies for removing toxic people out of your life? What if they are your own family?

I recommend a cleanse. It should not be a knee jerk reaction, but should be calm and calculated.

There is a wonderful blog post about this at

http://realitywithrashell.blogspot.ca/2009/05/life-enema-try-it-youll-like-it.html

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Self Management

Building Relationships

Entrepreneurship

Gordon Freedman answered

My friend and I started a new business to patent and license a new piece of equipment. What kinds of pitfalls should we avoid?

Patent costs are ongoing and somewhat variable, so be sure you each have a clear understanding of the costs so you can share them fairly as time goes on. The initial preparation and filing is significant, but so are maintenance fees, foreign filing costs, etc.

The most common pitfall I see is that both people don't want to pay for later stage work that is required and the person not paying still wants their 50% of the patent profits. Be clear as to what happens in case of bankruptcy, non payment, etc.

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New Product Development

Patents

Gordon Freedman answered

Pitch Decks: What do investors think of comedy in pitch decks?

I recommend humour in pitches, but never in the deck. Great comedians feel the room and time their delivery. This is impossible in a deck. I am always reminded of my profs explaining the joke in the first slide of the first lecture..." you see it is funny because the student is saying..." That is a bad place to be in your pitch.

Of course, if you are pitching a comedy business, then comedy in the deck might be called for.

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pitching

angel investing

Startup Consulting

Gordon Freedman answered

Can i create and sell my invention before filing for a provisional patent and maintain my rights to the invention?

The answer is yes, but it always depends. Let me begin by saying that the more knowhow, etc. involved, the easier it is to sell something without any patent protection. Otherwise, you are trying to sell something without protection and you get no protection until the patent issues, which may take years.

The acquirer may just run with it (I would) without licensing knowing there is no cost until your patent issues. Then, when you file, they will see your claims and try to modify their product around your claims. It is slightly vicious in nature. That said, I may not act much different if you file first, unless I can buy your patent or the license costs are very inexpensive.

Secondly, many countries have absolute novelty and you will not be able to protect your invention there ever, even if a licensee arises and wants to enter those markets. This too, is a serious limitation for licensing.

My conclusion would be that you are underfunded to address your IP and that I can get away with murder. Filing the application is your way of telling people that you are serious. That said, it is not necessary and I have a lot of clients that file later or never file.

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Patents

Business Strategy

Patent Strategy

Gordon Freedman answered

How can I open a US bank account for an LLC without traveling to the USA?

You could hire a CFO in the states and have the board authorise them for banking. Then they could open the account. Many companies get their banking done this way in the US (think of Multinationals).

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Banking

Management

Reviews

Member since May 2014