I want to offer my patent and consulting to a startup. How do I establish contact on eye level with one of their CEOs on LinkedIn or directly?

The ideal way would be to hire the engineer while the project is still under development. You and the engineer should follow up with the outsourced partner in the process. This will give hold to the engineer and later more staff can be trained in upgrading or follow on versions of the product/service.

Simple answer. Assign the ownership of the patent prior to closing any investment that is sufficient to market validate your invention. Investors will require an absolute assignment of ownership of any intellectual property. Given that you don't actually have a patent yet, you will be doing a general assignment that will include all assets and rights around the idea. I would also caution you not to over-emphasize the value of a provisional patent or patent application in-process. There is *zero* value to a provisional patent or patent in-process so don't let this distract you from operating your business and building out your product/service.

Just because two people are connected to each other on LinkedIn, doesn't mean that these two people have a strong connection to one another. So first, ask your Mentor directly whether (s)he knows this person well enough to make an introduction. Also, I'd suggest that instead of asking that the introduction be made via LinkedIn, that the introduction be made directly via email. The way this best happens is to email your mentor with a two paragraph email explaining why it is that you want an introduction to this person and explaining why you think this person would want to meet with you. Then your mentor can forward this email directly to this person with a request for an introduction. If the person replies to your mentor, your mentor will then connect you two directly. If the investor is interested enough to accept an intro, then you'll likely get a 30 minute to 1 hour in-person meeting or call scheduled. In terms of what that investor will be looking for, I've written a lot of answers to questions around seed-stage financing that I encourage you to review. I'm happy to schedule a quick call to give you some specific feedback on where you're at and how investors might perceive your progress to date. Best of luck with this connection!

First of all, what you have is a provisional patent **application**. For now, the provisional patent application is not publicly available. This can be a big advantage to you. You can use this time to improve your invention and file additional provisional applications. If you don't plan on making/practicing the invention yourself, you should make sure to try to think of everything possible regarding how that invention can be improved. This would (hopefully) come naturally to a practicing inventor. When you file your non-provisional application, your disclosure will be made public ("published") 18 months from the filing of the non-provisional. While your applications are not publicly available, I suggest waiting until you file your non-provisional application(s) to talk to others. Quite often, provisional applications do not have the detail or the scope that the non-provisional will have -- due to the time spent on getting drawings accurate and making sure everything is included in your non-provisional applications. It is best to have a complete application before talking to practicing companies. Sophisticated companies will take advantage of information not disclosed in your provisional application to file their own patent applications. If your applications are not publicly available (or even they are published), you should sign confidentiality agreements (non-disclosure agreements) with anyone you talk to about licensing or buying your invention. Keeping track of who you talked to with confidentiality agreements can be the basis for "notice" of the invention by an infringer -- when they eventually steal your invention. You can sell your idea anytime, but a provisional application is worth a lot less than a non-provisional application which is worth less than an allowed application or issued patent. Provisional applications are generally not as complete as they could be -- and require additional time and finesse to complete the non-provisional application. In terms of appearances, if you are not willing to put in the money to file the non-provisional application, the invention is likely not worth that much money. Companies as well as non-practicing entities may look at provisional applications, but not for long, and will not give you the kind of money that you may get from selling a fully examined patent. Of course, it depends on how good your invention is.

Instead of calling it "comedy", aim for humor. Humor that supports a key discovery helps to anchor that insight in the investor's mind. I've coached many pitches, and find that when presenters are nervous they try to go for an improvised laugh, thinking it will cut the tension. However, in most situations, it comes off as just that: improvised and cheesy. Which confims to the audience that the presenter is nervous and unsure. Humor an advanced communication skill which requires strategy, planning and practice. The best humor is subtle and smart. The goal is not to get a laugh, but to get a knowing smile.