Two summers ago, I decided to write a textbook on Entrepreneurship and Innovation.  I gave myself the summer to write it (three months, part-time).  My publisher ( De Gruyter ) thought I was crazy… but I did it. https://www.amazon.com/Navigating-Your-Way-Startup-Success/dp/1501515667  Here’s how:

Step 1: Make a Deadline

Without a deadline, how can you hit it?  I set myself a deadline of three months, and I fully intended to do it.  Would it be perfect, no, but would it be finished, yes! So few people will actually set a deadline for a project like this, but it really is the most important step.

Step 2: Break it Down

Realizing I had three months, I decided I wanted to have 12 chapters so I could write one chapter per week.  So I made an outline for the book that broke down the content into 12 clean chapters.

Step 3: Make a Schedule

I also had a full-time job while I wrote the book, so I had to find time to write it.  I created three weekly time-slots into my Google Calendar for writing, and one for reviewing. That left me 4×4 hour blocks for writing (evenings and weekends).

Step 4: Outline the Chapter

I made an outline for the chapter first, sorting out what I wanted to cover, and the order in which I planned to present it. One important trick was to make each chapter follow a similar pattern.  I opened with a story, then covered 2 or 3 main points of learning, then closed with a story.  Each chapter also had at least 1 figure and 1 “assessment” guide to help the reader assess what they learned.

Step 5: Write

I did NOT focus on writing well, just getting it all out.  I used the chapter outline to stay organized and on point, but otherwise wrote almost free-form (deciding to add references and such later).

Step 5: Edit

In the final 4-hour slot, I finished up, edited, added quotes and figures, etc.  Re-reading what I wrote was really helpful in making the book come together.

Step 6: Publish

I sent it on to the publisher and their editor was shocked.  Not only was the book done ON TIME, it had very few mistakes or edits. {partial credit to my wife who also pre-read and edited the final version for me}.

SUCCESS?

In short, yes. The book made the Bestseller list for the publisher in the first year, and continues to sell quite well on Amazon and in certain bookstores.

If you get a copy, I’d be happy to sign it!

https://www.amazon.com/Navigating-Your-Way-Startup-Success/dp/1501515667 

This is part five of a five part series on disruptive technology. You can read Part 1 on IoT here and Part 2 on AI here. Part 3 on Big Data is here and Part 4 on Drones is here. Disruptive technology is technology that pushes the boundaries of an industry, dramatically changing how we live or how things are made or done. The term disruptive innovation comes from the book The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen (1997). Many, many people have written tons of examples that are old-school: hard-drives/floppy disks, monitors/flatscreens, and so on. This series is about new technologies (at least new in 2017/2018) that are disrupting the world today.

Block Chain and Cryptocurrency

When people say cryptocurrency, they usually mean Bitcoin and similar digital moneys.  Block Chain, however, is the technology (along with cryptography) that powers the cryptocurrency movement.

So to understand cryptocurrency, you have to understand block chain… but…  block chain can do so much more than cryptocurrency!  Where to start?

Let’s start with Cryptocurrency because I think this article does a great job of summing up the idea:

“cryptocurrencies … [are] just limited entries in a database no one can change without fulfilling specific conditions.”

That’s it. It’s a database of who has what money.  What really?  Yes.. but… the article goes on to explain how it works quite well:

 SOURCE: https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-cryptocurrency/

In essence, there are three things happening here:

1. Public/Private Key Encryption (to prove that you are the owner of the digital currency).
2. Peer-to-Peer broadcasting of transactions.  (so that everyone has a complete record of what money is where).
3. Validation of the transactions. (so that a consensus is built and saved in an immutable way that the transaction was legitimate and completed).
   1. Bitcoin miners do these validations and earn some bitcoins (or whatever) for sharing their computer power to do it.

Okay, so what about block chain?

Simply put, a Block Chain, is the chain of all transactions that have ever happened (or deltas since a certain date/time).  In other words, it is the database.  What makes Block Chain a special kind of database are 3 things:

1. Each new entry in the database is cryptographic-ally “chain”ed together with prior entries, preventing corruption of the database as well as forgeries.
2. Many copies of the database (or it’s deltas) are kept stored on many different systems and kept in sync whenever something new gets added to the chain.
3. *usually* the database itself is public, or at least available to all users and verifiers of the block chain.

This article does a pretty good job of explaining block chain… they compare it to a shared google document.  Many people can edit the document at once and all changes are tracked and saved simultaneously.  Each person editing the document can also see each other’s edits in real-time.

Why Business Care about Block Chain and Cryptocurrency

There are many reasons why businesses should are, and may get disrupted:

1. Cryptocurrencies may take off and become just “currency”. This is already happening and many businesses will accept bitcoin (for example) to buy products and services.
   1. Cryptocurrency trading markets will make this more and more possible, as businesses can exchange bitcoins into locally useful currencies.
2. Block Chain concepts can be applied to more then just money!
   1. A distributed trusted ledger can also be useful for lots of other things:
      1. Save costs by hosting the database in the peer-to-peer cloud!
      2. Increase security by preventing database modifications!
      3. Create new solutions to challenging problems using peer-to-peer concepts (distributed computing)
3. What kinds of things are being put onto block chains?
   1. Health Records
   2. Exercise Statistics
   3. Gaming (both gambling and no-stakes records)
   4. Promises
   5. Computing Results – (distributed computing)
   6. Movies, Music, Media – all of it.
   7. Analytics/Raw Data
   8. this list is endless… ANYTHING that could be put into a database or ANY digital data can be stored in a block chain.

This is part four of a five part series on disruptive technology. You can read Part 1 on IoT here and Part 2 on AI here. Part 3 on Big Data is here. Disruptive technology is technology that pushes the boundaries of an industry, dramatically changing how we live or how things are made or done. The term disruptive innovation comes from the book The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen (1997). Many, many people have written tons of examples that are old-school: hard-drives/floppy disks, monitors/flatscreens, and so on. This series is about new technologies (at least new in 2017/2018) that are disrupting the world today.

Drones and Robotics

Is there a difference between a drone and robotics?  Not really, a drone is a kind of robot.  Most people think of flying drones when they think of drones, but other kinds of drones can walk, crawl and even swim.  So what is happening here?  Why the explosion of “drone” companies, an what do we mean by that?

When people say “Drones” there are several things that they probably mean.

1. Remote Controlled Flying Drones with Cameras – these consumer products have become cheap and ubiquitous. They are essentially what it sounds like, flying toys.  However, when the flying toys have a Camera, some real “business purposes” can be had:
   1. Mapping Terrain
   2. Surveys
   3. Cinema
   4. Vanity Photography – Land Photography
   5. Research (think tracking wildlife)
   6. Police/Fire/Rescue (think finding people, spotting fires, etc).
2. Automated Drones with Cameras – sometimes people think about “Drones” delivering mail or groceries… (this will probably happen in our lifetime).
   1. What’s different here is that the drones do NOT have a human controller, and instead are flying based on 2 other technologies:
      1. GPS – ability to know where they are to high precision.
      2. CV – Computer Vision – A form of AI where a drone knows, for example, not to crash into buildings or people.
3. Drones/Robots for Manufacturing – this is not new, per say, but the decreasing cost of parts, the shrinking of parts, and the increase in computing power are continuing to make Robotics for manufacturing a viable option.
   1. Micro-robotics is set to also make manufacturing breakthroughs.
4. Home Robotics – this area is in infancy, but Roomba and other cleaning bots are exploding. Pool cleaning robots are becoming mainstream, and will continue to do so.
5. SO MUCH MORE!  Robotics are invading every industry: from sex toys to industrial pipe inspection, the application of robotics are endless and seemingly going to continue to increase; disrupting many industries.

Why do businesses care?

Businesses should care about drones and robotics for the obvious reasons:

1. Opportunities to reduce costs – automation, manufacturing, delivery, warehouse, etc.
2. Opportunities to create new products
3. Potential for disruption.

This is part three of a five part series on disruptive technology. You can read Part 1 on IoT here and Part 2 on AI here. Disruptive technology is technology that pushes the boundaries of an industry, dramatically changing how we live or how things are made or done. The term disruptive innovation comes from the book The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen (1997). Many, many people have written tons of examples that are old-school: hard-drives/floppy disks, monitors/flatscreens, and so on. This series is about new technologies (at least new in 2017/2018) that are disrupting the world today.

Big Data

What exactly is big data?

Big data is data.  What is data?  Data, at least in modern times, is digital representations of information.

Okay, but what do people mean when they say big data?

Actually, they mean a lot of things.  Here’s a breakdown of what they might mean, and helps to define “Big Data” today.

1. Cheap storage – because it is cheap to make and use digital storage that is actually quite fast to access, new possibilities for what we measure and store are possible.
2. Fast and easy access – cloud computing has made it possible to quickly search, sort, and analyze data… easily, from anywhere.  Without buying your own server farms or super-computers.
3. Tracking everything – since cheap storage is fast and easy it is therefor possible to track and collect data on more and more things. This is further enhanced by IoT and the massive adoption of the internet which makes it easy to instrument data collection tools.
   1. For example: Google Analytics can easily track lots and lots of things about people using and uses of your websites or apps, all at zero cost to you.  Free Big Data!
4. Statistical Analysis Tools – since it is fast and easy to access lots and lots of data.. and we are saving lots of things… new algorithms such as predictive algorithms in statistics make it possible to “find nuggets of insight” by analyzing the data.  This analysis can be cheap because of cloud computing.
   1. Predictive Analytics – this is analytics that seek to find potentially causal relationships between desired outcomes (likes sales) and customer actions (like looking at testimonials).  It can analyze tons of potential customer actions to see which ones most commonly lead to sales.
   2. Cohort Analytics – this is analytics that create groups with like features (such as age-groups) and analyze what might be different about their usage or their predictive analytics for that group.
   3. SO MANY MORE!  I cannot list all of the great statistical things you can now to with Big Data…. it can also power and fuel AI training engines!

So Why Big Data?

Businesses are trying to leverage “Big Data” to do the following things (and more)…

1. Better Marketing leading to Increased Sales – by learning more about their customer, by doing better and more customized marketing, by doing better at attracting the right customers, etc.
2. New products – Big Data lets companies make new things possible, like counting calories, comparing your walking distances and habits with friends (Fitbit), knowing what kind of music you like (spotify/pandora), and so many more!  Data is cheap, so you can use it to make amazing things that were never before possible.
3. Lower Costs – Digitization can lower costs, and now since Big Data is cheap, anything can be digitized cheaply and usually pretty easily.
4. Here’s a few more:  Track Things, Monitor Things (uptime), Make Things Safer, Make Things more Robust, Predict Failures, Predict Outcomes, Simulation, and oh so much  more.

Here is a pretty good TedX about Big Data if you want to learn more:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXyzDd2heK8

This is part one of a five part series on disruptive technology. Disruptive technology is technology that pushes the boundaries of an industry, dramatically changing how we live or how things are made. It first was discussed as disruptive innovation in the innovator’s dilemma by Clayton Christensen (1997). Many, many people have written tons of examples that are old-school: hard-drives/floppy disks, monitors/flatscreens, and so on. This series is about new technologies (at least new in 2017) that are disrupting today’s technologies.

IoT stands for internet of things, and it stands to change not just one industry, but potentially many. The core idea of IoT is that something that previously wasn’t connected to the internet is now internet-connected. This simple idea can be applied to anything, from Thermostats (See NEST) to Toasters (yes, for real) all the way to pots for plants (why not get a reminder that you need to water your plant?).

Like any technology IoT must have a real use to be of any value. Real use is use that is not just “for show” but actually delivers value to the end user of the technology. IoT has four core uses that I will define here. For IoT to be useful it must save the user time, save them money, provide entertainment value, or improve their health in some way. Saving time means making something that took longer take less time. For a potted plant IoT that means instead of watering every day, you only water when the pot says it’s too dry in there. Saving money means you spend less than you otherwise would have to. The NEST thermostat knows when you are home and does not have to run your Air Conditioning quite so low when you are not there. Toys of all kinds are fun to play with, but toys that also connect to the internet can put kids into the physical world with their gadgets making them more fun. Refrigerators that know what you are eating and when can help you track calories and lose weight. Regardless of the category, IoT must be useful to be of value.

Usefulness is not enough for disruption though. To qualify as being disruptive the new technology must obviate the old technology. It doesn’t have to be cheaper (although that is one way to obviate a technology), but it does have to make the old technology essentially useless such that fewer and fewer people buy it any more. Do people still buy rotary phones? Lets be real, not unless it’s for art.

What IoT have come out to truly disrupt the market? Smart thermostats are almost there. Soon, nobody will buy dumb ones. Can you think of others? I believe that the market is wide open for inventors and startups to use a simple technology (IoT) and turn it into a true disruption. Instead of making smart toasters, think of things that would no longer be needed, IF there was a technology that obviated it. Go out and create!

The picture below is of the SmartPrompt Probe. It’s a device that tries to obviate the need for cooking thermometers. Me and the team at Key Ingredient invented and built it… neat, fun, but not disruptive. I want to try again!

This article explains how to incorporate.

First, and foremost, please consider hiring a lawyer to help you. It could save you a lot of money in the long run.
Even an online lawyer like LegalZoom and RocketLawyer are much safer options than doing it yourself.

The information below is provided to help you do it yourself (if you really want to, but not recommended) and at least to understand the process.

So, first, why incorporate?
The short answer is to provide you with some legal protection in the event of bankruptcy or lawsuit. Incorporating can help protect your personal assets, if you do it right!

So, what is the right way?

To keep it simple, let’s assume you are a startup that will eventually want to raise funds.

In this case, you should choose a C-Corp or S-Corp. Professional investors prefer to invest in corporations that are C-Corp because the laws and paperwork are standardized, and future acquisition and IPO are possible with this entity type.

Here is the difference between a C-Corp and an S-Corp:
C-Corporation – a normal common company, like you already know of.
* Has stock.
* Has Articles of Incorporation ~ filed in a State where the company is “born”
* Has a corporate shield for liability.
* Must file and pay corporate taxes
S-Corporation
* Does not pay corporate tax. (but still files forms)
* All profits flow to shareholders and gets taxed on owner’s individual income statement
* Requires less than 100 shareholders and 1 type of stock.
* Has a corporate shield for liability.

How do you incorporate then? Simple! Get a lawyer, or….
Fill out your own “Articles of Incorporation” in your state or perhaps Delaware.

Can file in any state, most common = Delaware
http://corp.delaware.gov/howtoform.shtml
Costs $89 (must fax) + Annual Registered Agent Fees
Why Delaware?
Because they built a reputation to make it easy & have a history of it.
Their laws are also quite common and accepted in all states. “Delaware Law”.
The downside, you will need to pay a “registered agent” in Delaware to forward your mail.

Your home state is also a good choice, you can be the registered agent.
In my case, Texas:
https://direct.sos.state.tx.us/acct/acct-login.asp Costs $300 (no annual fee)

An S-Corporation is simply an extra form of C-Corporation. To elect as an S-Corporation, you send an extra form to the IRS:
http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/S-Corporations

Several Venture Capital firms, such as S3 Ventures here in Austin, provide downloads to, in my opinion, rather complex financial modeling spreadsheets to help you get started.

I have my own version of this and it’s much simpler to work with (in my opinion).

In fact, I have three versions:
One version for “online sales“.
Another version for “subscription sales“.
And a final version for “sale-person sales“.

These three should be modifiable for most business models.

Have a model that you’re not sure of? Leave a comment or shoot me a message, and I’ll be glad to help you think it through.

Want those complex models from S3? I’ve saved them here.