When I socialize my idea, how do I determine which parts need to remain confidential?
Russ Wilcox
Russ Wilcox
Partner at Pillar
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Russ Wilcox
What is a VCs expected time frame for $100M in net revenue vs. run rate?
Russ Wilcox
What should I do if I have a great idea, but another startup is already solving the same problem?
Russ Wilcox
What is a platform business?
Russ Wilcox
What is a winner take all market?
Russ Wilcox
Does a patent allow me to operate freely?
Russ Wilcox
How can I prove there is customer interest for my deep tech startup?
Russ Wilcox
Where can I find a co-founder with deep expertise?
Russ Wilcox
What is the difference between shares and options?
Russ Wilcox
What is total addressable market?
Russ Wilcox
How does dilution work for founder shares?
Russ Wilcox
How do VCs distinguish between a product and a feature?
Russ Wilcox
Why should I avoid title inflation?
Russ Wilcox
How much equity should I give advisors?
Russ Wilcox
If I have to hire over someone, how do I manage that conversation?
Russ Wilcox
How do I rescope someone's job?
Russ Wilcox
How much ownership do investors expect?
Russ Wilcox
How long should the funding from my seed round last?
Russ Wilcox
Part 1: How much should I aim to raise in my seed round?
Russ Wilcox
What should I say when asked about valuation?
Russ Wilcox
How are valuations determined?
Russ Wilcox
Is there a minimum valuation that gets VCs excited?
Russ Wilcox
How long does it take to get a patent?
Russ Wilcox
How much does it cost to get a patent?
Russ Wilcox
What is the success rate for getting patents?
Russ Wilcox
How many patents do I need?
Russ Wilcox
How many startups get patents?
Russ Wilcox
Will patents completely protect me from competitors?
Russ Wilcox
If I can't patent my technology, will it still be attractive to VCs?
Russ Wilcox
Do I need a patent?
Russ Wilcox
Is my tech defensible? Does it matter?
Russ Wilcox
At what point should I sign a founders agreement with my co-founder?
Russ Wilcox
How much equity should I give a potential co-founder who is part time until I raise a round?
Russ Wilcox
How many co-founders should I have?
Russ Wilcox
How much equity should I give my professor?
Russ Wilcox
How do we fairly divide our equity?
Russ Wilcox
Videos
Guides
How To: Manage Your Board of Directors
Serial CEO, Emily Green, shares tips to help you recruit, communicate with, and remain aligned with your board
How to: Protect Yourself in a Fire Sale
Innovation is hard, and not all startups succeed. Get your carve-out in writing.
How to: Pitch a VC Successfully (Even Over Zoom)
Your pitch deck should be aligned with your audience. Here’s how you can do that, even over Zoom.
How To Navigate a Term Sheet in the COVID-19 Era
Winners in the new world—as well as smaller startups or those leveraging existing relationships—will still close deals during this period. But be wary of investors who use this environment to propose term sheets full of red flags.
How To: Manage Series A Termsheets
All of your hard work has paid off, you’ve received a term sheet! Now it’s time to manage the investors around the table to make sure you get the best deal possible.
How To: Develop a Series A Pitch
Writing a terrific pitch deck is hard, just like writing a hit song is hard. Don’t shoot for average. Seed was about whether you can get in the game. Series A is about showing how you can win the game, and why this is a game worth winning. Read on for tips on creating the perfect pitch deck.
How To: Build an Investor List
If your company is ready for Series A, your biggest limiting factor will be finding investors. The greatest factor that can reduce the effort required to run the Series A process is to invest heavily in researching your targets well before you’re ready to raise. Read this article to learn how to create the perfect investor list.
How To: Build a Series A Budget
So, you’ve raised your Seed. Congratulations! While it may seem like you’re swimming in cash now, if you’re building a venture scale business, at some point, likely within the next 12-18 months, you will need more money. Read this article for advice on creating a Series A budget.
How To: Raise a Series A Full Guide
80 page guides don’t scare you? Of course not! Follow this A-Z guide to help you raise your Series A seamlessly.
10 Steps to Raising a Series A
Raising seed was a grueling process, and you feel eager now to leave behind all thoughts of fundraising and finally get back to building your business. But, you know Series A is just around the corner. How can you successfully raise your Series A? Read these 10 steps, and apply their lessons.
How To: Hire Your Leadership Team
When it comes to hiring, the are high — your company will succeed or fail by the team you build around you.
How VCs Really Evaluate Potential Seed Investments
The VC’s decision to invest comes down to four core elements: scope, chemistry, unicorn potential and financial match.
Read This First
So you are ready to raise a Series A? Check out this quick overview to help navigate our How to Raise a Series A Guide.
Part 6: The Cavalry - Defending Your Castle from Attack
With well-written contracts in place acting like a gate to guard your interactions with the outside world, you can finally rest content. You have set up all the elements needed to create an IP fortress, and your walls are growing every day. There’s just one topic left to cover – what to do if your castle is attacked?
Part 5: The Gate - Protecting Your IP Outside the Company
Next it is time to venture outside the castle, but you don’t want to let your ideas walk right out the front gate! Learn how to hold technical or scientific discussions without sacrificing your ability to file and control patents, and find out how best to structure joint development agreements with allies.
Part 4: The Walls - How to Run an Ongoing IP Program
Whenever you uncover a valuable invention, you have a system in place to identify, protect, and file on the right intellectual property. Each time you do, you will be building an additional outer wall to protect your core IP. Read about a comprehensive system for managing those processes in this section.
Part 3: The Keep - Your Critical First Patent Sprint
Now that you have a foundation cleared up, it’s time to build your fortress, and at the center of every fortress is the most protected area of all, the Keep. We better explain our castle analogy, and then tell you step by step how to get started.
Part 2: The Foundation - Before You Incorporate
In this section, we discuss how to evaluate a technology or science available to license, how to figure out if there is room to start a new company without getting sued by existing patentholders, and how to make a fair deal with a university or government lab licensing officer.
How To: Navigate CFIUS
Tips for Entrepreneurs Coping with FIRRMA, CFIUS, and Export Control.
How To: Build an IP Fortress Overview
Pillar VC’s A to Z Guide on All Matters Intellectual Property for Start-Up CEOs.
You Owe Your Team Prompt Layoffs and a New Plan
This post explains why sometimes you should embrace layoffs as a difficult but necessary step, how you should implement a layoff, and what you can do to rebuild morale down the road.
How To: Assess Product-Market Fit
Finding your way to product-market fit starts with getting close to customers, listening and learning.
How Much Should Startups Invest in Intellectual Property?
Before investing in patents, all startups should take two simple, low-cost steps: briefly check freedom to operate and put the right legal documents place.
Part 1: A Primer on Patents
What is a Patent? What Are the Parts of a Patent Application? Why Are Patents Valuable? What Types of Inventions Can Be Patented? Russ Wilcox answers all of these questions and more in Part 1: A Primer on Patents.
How to: Navigate Corporate Partnership Offers
After you launch your new company, you may be surprised at how swiftly big companies come knocking on your door. Is that an opportunity or a threat?
