Reid's DukeGEN Blog

 If you are fundraising, you should check out this “curated” list of VCs https://www.vcsheet.com/ Use the DukeGEN or other network to get warm introductions to these investors.

 A wise associate of mine shared this and I thought you might find value: If you have issued European patents or applications in process, this will impact you. This may have a material impact on portfolio valuations or strategies on how you protect your holdings as well. What. On June 1, 2023, the Unitary Patent will launch throughout the EU with the goal to create a single patent authority for all participating member countries. Currently, a EU patent holder or applicant must apply to have a patent individually “validated” by specific European countries in order to receive patent protection within the validating country. The Unitary Patent system (UPS) is intended to streamline this process and provide protection across all participating countries with a single patent. Beginning on March 1, 2023, entities that hold issued European patents or pending applications will have the opportunity to “opt out” of the UPS. If no action is taken, all patents which issue after June 1, 2023 wil...

 Here’s a treasure trove of 38 secrets to create advertising that sells by David Ogilvy. My friend, Mike Malloy, at McDonough SOB at Georgetown pulled out a few of his favorites that he shared: 1) The most important decision is how should you position your product. 2) The second most important decision is what should you promise the consumer. 4) Your advertising must be built on a big idea to jolt the consumer out of his indifference. 11) Go for the whole hog because it pays to boil down your strategy to one simple promise, and then deliver on that promise. 12) Testimonial commercials are almost always successful - if you make them credible. 13) Problem-solution (don’t cheat!) works by setting up a problem that the consumer recognizes and showing how your product solves that problem. But don’t cheat because the consumer isn’t a moron. She’s your wife. 17) Commercials using on-camera voice do significantly better than commercials using voice-over. 25) 5X as many people read the he...

A twenty-something CS major working in consulting asked "How should I deepen my software engineering skills? Should I get a masters? Or join a startup?" My thoughts are: - I encourage you to do your software training on the side . . .while you keep getting paid - You can do that by doing classes remotely, either for a degree or just on your own - In my experience that many of the best software engineers are self-taught - That's because technology is always changing, so your experience teaching yourself allows you to keep current - You can also contribute to a startup or an open source project on the side - double check your employment agreement to make sure you stay compliant - Lastly, build things on your own that force you to learn more CS tools - Building things on your own eliminates any conflicts with your current employer - Pick projects that you can finish - start small so you get to a v1.0 and then add more capability or start a new project - pick projects tha...

 Investor Directories Mercury  https://mercury.com/investor-db Visibile.VC  https://connect.visible.vc/investors

 Find a paid summer internship or research program for yourself or a student you know! Use the links below to search for Paid Summer Research Programs at NSF, NASA, NIH, and over 700 programs. Most programs offer both a stipend and housing and travel support. There’s something for everyone, as the programs cover nearly all STEM disciplines and are offered at institutions all over the country. Search a database of summer research opportunities for K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students: https://pathwaystoscience.org/programs.aspx?descriptorhub=SummerResearch_Summer%20Research%20Opportunity Search for internships and other programs for K-12 students: https://pathwaystoscience.org/K12.aspx Best success!

Best Practices - Monthly Updates to Investor Candidates, Investors, and Design Partners aka Beta Customers (updated 4 April 2024) Startups benefit greatly if they send monthly updates to "keep warm" their relationships with important constituencies, including Investor Candidates, Investors, and Design Partners, aka Beta Customers. There's no right way, only "doing it or not."  (I know that Yoda says that differently .) That said, I know of Dukies that do this: - Manually (its ok to start by bccing in your email client . . .you will quickly understand why you need a better solution) - Using MailChimp free tier <1000 addresses - Using Paperstreet.vc - Using Visible.vc - Using Beehiiv.com To understand what you might include in an update and to see an array of formats, check out Visible.vc Note that Visible.vc has a list of investors that's accessible to everyone as of this writing: https://connect.visible.vc/investors Let me know how you keep your friends ...