yet2ventures Speaks at Forum for Consumer Product Entripeneurs

I had the pleasure of speaking at a forum for consumer product entrepreneurs 2 weeks ago in Radnor PA.  It was hosted by Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz LLP, who did a great job connecting a rooms full of entrepreneurs with venture capitalists – tough to do in this climate.  It was great to see a law firm take such a leadership role in facilitating these kinds of connections.

A few key learnings?:

1. There is a lot less money chasing fewer consumer product start ups.  The West Coast VC bubble has not hit Philly yet
2. The VC’s have a high regard for sector knowledge/Rolodex, and basic ‘blocking and tackling’
3. Entrepreneurs are still not taking advantage of the Open Innovation offices in most major companies (these are your internal evangelists)

Here is a edited summary:

yet2.com’s 11th Annual Open Innovation Conference

We hosted our 11th annual Open Innovation conference in Boston 2 weeks ago.  It was a huge success.  We talked about; trends in innovation and best practices.  A few large companies presented their learnings and plans, a few small companies presented their breakthrough technologies and we had a few case studies…..and a personal favorite – we ate lobster.

In total, we had executives from 3 Continents, with a large group from Japan.  Some of the companies  participating included; Canon, P&G, Agfa, AirProducts, Applied Materials, AveryDennison, Baxter, Bayer, Clorox, Colgate,  DuPont, Ecolab, GSK, Kimberly-Clark, J&J, Kisco, Mellon, Nissan, Panasonic, Parker Hannifin, P&G, Ricoh, Sony, DSM, Invista and NASA!   Add to this, we had 2 dozen selected small companies, with breakthrough technologies.

     I liked the robust Q&A after each presentation.  When Canon’s CTO, Dr. Ikoma-san, presented, 4 other CTOs asked questions.  You cant beat that.  Some themes that emerged

1. Be ready for disruptive innovation from the bottom of the pyramid
2. Regional R&D, with Global Sourcing
3. Squash the immune response – accept ‘fuzzy data’
4. Enable personal risk taking
5. Engage ‘Renewal Searches’ – at the middle and the end of R&D

We spent a lot of time discussing how to optimize deals between large and small companies.  This has been a reoccurring theme are our events.  Even when there is a great technology fit, deals take more time than both parties would like.

Failure

I love failure.  I have to.  Been doing it all my life.  Which is why this video from Kathryn Schulz hit home.

I think she is correct, when she implies that the secret to success is a higher tolerance for failure and low tolerance for not trying again…and for not achieving ultimate success.

yet2.com Webinar – April 21st – Improve deal-making process

Join us to hear how experienced deal-makers are succeeding, at our upcoming webinar:

Conference Preview: Successful Deal-making with Small Companies April 21, 2011, 11:00am EST.

We’ll be discussing relationship building, cross-cultural appreciation, ongoing consulting, and step-wise deal structures, among other topics. We’ve gathered representatives from both the small and big company perspectives to share their thoughts — tune in to learn how you can hasten and improve your own deal process.

Webinar speakers:

	Steve Baggott, Director, External Business Development, Procter & Gamble
	Robert Michelson, President, Butler Home Products
	Dr. Greg Williams, Director of Research and Development, Monteco Ltd.

April’s webinar is an exclusive preview of a live panel discussion to be held at yet2.com’s upcoming Open Innovation conference in May, in Boston.

Register today for the Successful Deal-making with Small Companies Preview Webinar here:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/311188682

Our Future – Through the Eyes of Corning

I love thought provoking renditions of what the future might be like.  This is a good example of how material science (and Corning) will likely play a role in our future – Ben

NASA Announces Results of Pilot Program With yet2.com

HOUSTON, April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — NASA’s Space Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) at the Johnson Space Center in Houston announced results of a pilot program conducted by yet2.com that identified partnerships to work on six technical needs related to human spaceflight. The needs range from better food packaging materials to a portable bone-imaging device.

SLSD engaged the services of open innovation service provider yet2.com as part of a series of pilot programs during the last two years. In an effort to expand open communication and to create additional opportunities for public involvement with NASA, open innovation service provider (OISP) platforms are under evaluation.

“Open innovation has been a critical component of SLSD’s broader innovation strategy,” said Jeffrey R. Davis, director of SLSD. “This strategy has strengthened our ability to make connections with organizations to address our research and technology needs that we would not have known about using more traditional approaches. Given the favorable results achieved through this pilot study, we will continue to pursue the use of OISP as one tool in our innovation toolkit.”

Based on NASA’s specific technological needs, yet2.com acted as a technology scout, providing a broad external network of experts as potential collaborators with NASA. A relationship can be established with these contacts to develop new technologies. Yet2.com’s system also can be used to maintain established networks for future collaborations. The results from the pilot study show potential for long-term efficacy of OISP platforms.

Driving a Successful Exit

Over the past 10 years, yet2 has facilitated hundreds of transactions with the Fortune 500, on 3 continents.  Most of these have been between successful start ups and a large multinationals, and they cover a wide range of technology.  While each transactions is different, I thought I’d share a few navigational insights to help successful start-ups drive an exit or form a partnership.

The first thing to understand is that large companies rarely act with one voice.  While they try to, they don’t.  They are a collection of individuals each with motivations and fears.   Most of employees of these firms have 3 questions in mind, 1) How can I represent my company well? 2) Will this help get me promoted? 3) Will this minimize the chance for me to get fired?

Usually, it’s in the best interest of the LargeCo to delay and do more diligence or testing.  Unless they are about to lose the opportunity, they have every motivation to ‘do one more test’.  More testing and diligence helps prevent the decision-makers from getting fired.  In this sense, Large companies may be price agnostic, meaning they would much rather pay $200 million for a technology they know works, than $5 million for one that ‘needs fixing’.  This is how to get promoted, and not fired.

Innovation Outside of the Box

Innovation is all about taking the common and regular, and changing it for the better. Here is a quick video about the reinvention of the shoe box by Puma.  At yet2ventures, we are fascinated by breakthrough consumer packaging.

2011 Patent Buying Areas of Interest report

We’ve been buying and selling patents at yet2.com for over 11 years now. Over those years we have seen the areas of patent interest change quite substantially.  Today we released our 2011 Patent Buying Areas of Interest report. This years’ report breaks patents sales into four areas; Consumer Electronics, Wireless, Healthcare and Lighting.  Contact us for the full report, but below is a summary.

Most patent transactions are in industries where there are a high number of patents per product.  Consumer electronics leads the pack.  We are seeing an increase in interest in patents around the edges of consumer electronics, like hardware casing and metal bending. The patent market is coming back to a ‘new normal’, after the 2008 market disruption.  While transaction activity has picked back up, it’s still at 50% of pre 2008.

Patent Buying Interest Areas (2011)

1. Consumer Electronics

a) Image Capture / Image processing

b) Audio/Video

c) Memory

d) Compression / Decompression (“codec”)

e) Displays

f) Battery / Portable Power

g) Sensors

An Indication of “The New Now” – A Holiday Flash Mob

A few days ago, I wrote about a new trend – the emergence of the “New Now“.  I wrote about how our definition of “now” will change, how mobile computing will give us a new control of our environment, the way Tivo gives us control of our TV.  We will spend less time waiting for things and more time; learning, having fun, connecting with family and making friends.

Flash mobs, like this one, are an early indicator of the “New Now”.  This is a really neat clip.  What are other examples of the “New Now”?