Candor => Conflict => Synergy

I asked a friend, who’s an expert in turning companies around, how he does it.

He said, the first day he gets everyone in a room and says he requires absolute candor.  He wants honest opinions and ideas.  He said, inherent in that is conflict.  You can’t have a group of honest people with out conflict.  Conflict is good.  He said, only through that conflict do the great ideas surface.  These great ideas provide the synergy that turns the company around.

A Key Way for Ventures to Gain Access to More Resources? – Legitimacy

One of the largest problems facing startups is access to enough capital and resources to stay afloat. Many entrepreneurs lay awake at night, thinking about how they are going to pay their employees, or land the next big contract.  Academic research has shown that a new venture’s legitimacy impacts the amount of resources it can obtain, and thus the amount of growth it can achieve.

“Legitimacy helps motivate the investor by signaling that the organization is properly constituted; committed to the proper scripts, rules, norms, values, and models; able to use appropriate means; and pursuing acceptable ends—all of which signal that it is appropriate to invest in the new venture.” So what is a new venture’s legitimacy?

A new venture is legitimate if:

1. The management team can be independently verified, and is transparent and open about their failures.
2. The plan and underlying technology can be verified similarly
3. The team is open about their shortcomings.  If they are as quick to share bad news as good news they are legitimate.

So what does of all of this mean? New ventures need to make strategic choices to increase their legitimacy. Ventures that do not actively increase their legitimacy, risk not reaching the Legitimacy Threshold and have a greater chance of failure.

For more in-depth info on this read the article (which this is based off of)- BEYOND SURVIVAL: ACHIEVING NEW VENTURE GROWTH BY BUILDING LEGITIMACY by MONICA A. ZIMMERMAN & GERALD I. ZEITZ

Time Delay Video from International Space Station

Videos like this reminds us how far we have come and how amazing the plante we live on is…..  It’s an inspiring clip.  There are more like them here.

The ‘Polite NO’, Can Sound Like A ‘Maybe’….it’s critical to understand the difference!

A critical skill for an entrepreneur is understanding the difference between a ‘maybe’ and a ‘polite no’.

It can be very hard to tell, and this can mean the the difference between life and death of a new technology.

The problem is most entrepreneurs are so aggressive and driven, they can steam roll right over the the ‘polite no’ so that it sounds like a ‘maybe’.

First some motivations.  When someone is evaluating your company or technology, they never actually want to say ‘no’, they in fact want you to keep perfecting it, to keep working, and to keep coming back until it is perfect  – and the investor or licensee can say ‘yes’ to a completely de-risked opportunity.  The problem is that you can go broke doing this, and you will never get to to objective – a completely perfect opportunity (if you do, give me a call, I’m always looking for the completely de-risked investment!).

The rare investor or licensee will say ‘no’.  Be VERY grateful if you get a ‘no’.  Spend time understanding how to improve and then thank them profusely.  99.9% will give you the ‘polite no’, which sounds nice, but can be evil.

Here are some telltale signs, to determine if you are getting a ‘polite no’:

1) There are no ‘to dos’ for the other side.  All the ‘to do’s’ are on your side.  This is a problem!

2) They stop asking substantive questions about the current technology.  In other word’s they have finished their evaluation.

3) They cant articulate their decision-making process ‘we’ll get back to you soon’.  This is a huge red-flag!

4) They are being overly personally nice! No reason for their ‘polite no’ to make you angry.

5) The dreaded phrase ‘thanks for coming by, please keep us in the loop’.  If you hear this, RUN.

What other telltale signs am I missing?

yet2.com Webinar – 3 New Metal Joining Technologies from EADS – 9/30 @ 11am EDT

I love working at yet2.com for a bunch of reasons.  The first is we get to learn about so many interesting new technologies and meet the inventors behind them.  EADS is a good example.  They are an R&D powerhouse, and we’re privileged to be able to walk around their labs looking for technologies to license or spin out.  It’s the best job in the world.To share this wonderful experience, we’ve started hosting webinars.  These online gatherings are are great for the yet2.com community, the technology scouts, the entrepreneurs, and great for the companies we’ve invested in too. The next Webinar is on 30 September 2010 at 11:00 a.m.–12:30 pm EDT US. (8:00 am PDT. 16:00 UK.) We will share 3 new Metal joining technologies from EADS. The EADS Group includes Airbus, a world-leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft and multi-role military transporters; the world’s largest helicopter producer, Eurocopter; and EADS Astrium, the European leader in space programs. During this webinar, we will provide an overview of the licensing initiative and will further present specific technologies on welded structures and processes, surface engineering, and new joining technologies. Register here for this latest webinar: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/438364691

yet2.com Japan – Learnings from My Trip this Week

Makino-san, Fujii-san, Me, Takeuchi-san

yet2.com has had an office in Tokyo for 11 years.  Why?  Because Japan is with worlds 2nd (or 3rd largest) economy depending how you count and half of the 10 largest US patent holders are Japanese companies.

We work closely with the leading Japanese technology companies driving technology and patent related transactions.  I’ve been traveling to Japan several times a year for the past 10 years and I thought I’d share a few observation from my trip this week:

1) Breakfast at the Hotel Okura is back! While the cost police at yet2 prevent me from staying there, I do eat breakfast there with some frequency.  The Hotel Okura is where the Tokyo business and technology community have breakfast.    The past 2 years it was not full at 8am.  On Thursday – it was packed.   Japan has been hammered the past 2 years, so this is an encouraging sign (BTW the French Toast is excellent).

2) Cash is Cheap and Back!  While Japan was worse on the downside and slower on the upside, corporate cash is back, and they are starting to spend.  Thanks to encouraging signs from electronics consumers in the US and China.

3) Technology and IP Budgets are Back. 2010 will be a record year by a wide margin for yet2 in Japan.

What does all this mean?  I’m cautiously optimistic for my friends in Japan. I think Japanese companies will be buying more patents on the global market (US and EU) and they will be more aggressive acquiring US venture funded companies – so they can continue to grow.

P&G’s Pantene Commercial…Another Example of Innovation at P&G

P&G is one of my favorite companies, because it’s so darn innovative.  It’s part of their culture.  The smart people at P&G have produced a commercial that is pretty innovative and an example of where advertising may be headed.  First it’s not really a commercial.  It’s an inspiring clip.  Second, try not to cry.

3 million people have viewed it on YouTube.

What new ventures will be required if this is a new commercial format for many companies?   What are the open innovation implications of this?

And the winner is….. ATI Composites

ATI Composites is the top winner of the Clean 15 Clean Tech Competition for 2010.

The competition connects large companies, with Canadian cleantech opportunities, for the purpose of simulating the countries cleantech economy. Yet2.com is a major sponsor of the competition, and helps facilitate relationships between the large companies and the Canadian cleantech opportunities.

ATI Composites focuses on the development of light weight concrete or mineral foam which has the potential to impact the Structural Insulated Panels (SIP) market, the pre-cast industry as well as the Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) market.

A full press release can be found here:
http://www.free-press-release.com/news-clean-15-canadian-business-journal-in-association-with-yet2-com-fogler-rubinoff-llp-oceta-announces-ati-composites-as-the-winner-of-the-clean-1-1283870580.html

yet2Ventures Closes Investment in Avantis Medical

yet2.com’s venture group made an equity investment in Avantis Medical

One of the best things about yet2 and our venture investing is the interesting people we get to meet and the technology we get to see. I’m excited to say we can add one more to our growing list of portfolio companies.

Avantis Medical Systems, Inc. is a medical device company founded to develop and manufacture catheter-based endoscopic devices. Based in Sunnyvale, California, the company is commercializing devices for use in detecting and treating cancers and other abnormalities of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

The Avantis team has many decades of experience in the medical device industry. The Company is developing a number of innovative devices based on the convergent technologies of micro-chips and reinforced catheters.

We’re impressed with the Avantis technology, IP position, and management team.