What entrepreneurs forget

The history of entrepreneurship is replete with tales of failure. Failure followed by dusting yourself off, getting up and trying again.

It may not be catastrophic failure. Sometimes it is trial and error ... testing what works and what doesn't ... changing the mix ... until the recipe for success reveals itself.

What are the implications for IP? Well, I mentioned in the previous post that few firms - large or small - have broad awareness of IP strategy.

Consider what this means for entrepreneurial firms who eventually make the grade.
Let's say a firm has experienced disappointment with Plan A ... and maybe even with Plan B ... before taking off with Plan C. They will have invested a lot of effort, research and development in Plan A. They may have even have obtained some protection for their IP. They have rejigged the business plan to develop Plan B.

Eventually Plan C takes off. That is a happy situation. Of course.

However, in all the excitement of scaling the business, it is very rare that the founders will have set aside a budget to acquire sufficient rights to protect them in their new area of focus. They need to have a strategy to address this.

This issue will be dealt with in future posts on this blog.