Does Your Investment Pitch Have an IP Slide?

I recently spoke with VC Rudy Garza of G51 Capital Management about entrepreneurs and their attitude about IP.

Rudy made an interesting observation: when entrepreneurs give their investment pitch to his group, entrepreneurs either don’t discuss their startup’s IP or put information about it in an appendix — almost like an afterthought.

This neglect is interesting in light of the fact that Rudy says they always ask about the startup’s IP protection plan.

We discussed why some entrepreneurs don’t seem to understand the importance of IP.

Maybe inexperienced entrepreneurs get caught up in the business fad of the day stressing quick iterations and little planning.

Or maybe IP gets ignored because it just isn’t sexy — until someone offers a million dollars for it.

Rudy put it clearly: “IP is the linchpin of a sustainable business.”

VCs understand this but clearly many new entrepreneurs don’t.

Rudy thinks every investment pitch should have a slide discussing IP.  And it shouldn’t be in the appendix.

So the next time you make your pitch you might want to discuss your IP strategy.

Indeed, you might want to create one.

Have you thought about how to protect:

• your company’s brand with trademarks,
• it’s software with copyrights or trade secrets,or
• your key technology or business methods with patents?

The time to think about your IP protection strategy is before you are put on the spot by a VC.

Jill Hubbard Bowman is an IP attorney who helps startups be more successful through strategic IP protection.