Join us this week for the final seminar in our 2011 seminar series, Start at the End: Exit Strategy with Basil Peters of Fundamental Technologies II and author of Early Exits. His presentation begins at 6pm tonight and it will be live blogged and tweeted for those unable to attend (and future reference for those who do!).

Basil says that the best strategy for a startup is an exit strategy.

Entrepreneurs have complex motivations, he observes—why do you do what you do? Investors, on the other hand, are simple minded: they want capital gains. They’re also a pain in the ass, he admits (he is one himself). They demand documentation, board meetings, and of course their money back… which means you need to have an exit strategy.

Exits are Basil’s favourite part of the entrepreneurial life, as they’re so fulfilling and rewarding. But they’re also complex and confusing, filled with myths and misperceptions that are “dangerously wrong” to the entrepreneur, plus a few “dirty secrets.”

IPOS AREN’T THE WAY

Two ways to sell your company: an IPO, or an M&A. (Initial public offering, merger and acquisition transaction.) These days, there are very few IPOs since 2000. M&A has become the prominent way of exiting. The media distorts M&A exits, Basil says, by focusing on multi-billion dollar deals. Ironically though, these don’t work out for the buy—think YouTube (Google), Skype (Microsoft), and Flip video cameras (Cisco). Slowly, corporate America is figuring this out. So what does that mean for you, the smalltime entrepreneur? It means smaller M&As are ripe for the picking—small and fast exits that slip under the radar but still equate to big profits and successes for you.

SMALLER IS BETTER

The median price of exits is below $15 million. Why are there so many smaller transactions occurring? Because big companies aren’t good at new ideas or startups. They suck at building new sub-businesses. But they excel at growing companies that are already established and sizeable, and make them even bigger. They want companies under $100 million is out of the “sweet spot” to buy—they like companies worth $20 million. It’s simpler to acquire and easier to profit from.

In fact, many big companies are spending more on M&A and internal R&D. Some companies like Google prefer companies “pre-revenue”—startups with less than 20 people, worth less than $20 million, generating as little as NO revenue.

Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, and Intel all have between $18 billion and $40 billion in cash. This isn’t a good thing—cash doesn’t grow. Shareholders pressure these companies constantly to put this money to work. How? All-cash M&A of small innovative satrtups.

But it’s not just big companies snapping up the tiny fish. Medium sized companies are also aggressive buyers, especially public ones. Even many wealthy individuals not ready to retire are now eyeing up these startups, and grouping up to buy them. In fact, there is so much demand so little supply in this space that there can be bidding wars.

WHAT WORKS TODAY

1. Small companies innovate, bootstrap.

2. Angels and friends and family finance.

3. Big companies buy them.

4. Buyers grow the business from there.

How does an entrepreneur get to stage three? Prove your business model. It’s as simple as a spreadsheet that shows real results for basic metrics such as gross margin per customer, cost of customer acquisition, etc. Here’s the kicker—you do not have to be profitable!

Basil goes as far as today this is the optimum time: get out while you have momentum, while no major glitches are occurring, before you peak and then decline. Sieze the opportunity, carpé diem. Don’t let human nature “defeat” you—AKA let your ego overtake sensibility. If in doubt, look to sell before you think the prime time is. Don’t forget, the selling process can take six to eighteen months.

THE INTERNET SEA CHANGE

The internet has accelerated everything that we do. The startup lifecycle is no exception. An entire company can be built in a weekend (this has become almost a sport amongst entrepreneurs now). A true example is of a company being built in literally one day in London and it was sold in just 10 days over eBay. Nano-sized website-based are sold all the time on Flippa.com, too, for sums in the tens of thousands (or even hundreds!).

Other examples: Flickr sold for $30 million after 1.5 years. Delicious sold for $30 million in 2 yrs. Club Penguin sold for $350 million 2 yrs. YouTube sold for $1.6 billion at 2 yrs old. AdMob sold for $750 million at 3.5 yrs old. Mint sold for $170 million at 3 yrs old. Playfish sold for $275 million for at 2 yrs.

RAISING CAPITAL. FROM WHO?

Financing used to be much more necessary and much more tedious. Companies cost millions of dollars to build, no matter the kind. Now, you can use your own resources largely. Bootstrapping, Basil says, is the best way to run your company—and this is coming from an angel investor. Capital efficiency is the new name of the game.

However, not all companies can be bootstrapped. Basil asked the audience: who is planning to raise capital from VCs? Who from angels? Who will boostrap? Fascinatingly, no one plans to use VCs, while about a quarter plan to use angels, and roughly half intend to bootstrap—much different than even 5 years ago, where VCs still dominated.

VCs invest about $20 billion per year in America. Angels also invest roughly $20 billion. But friends and families invest five times more than either!

While raising capital still is and probably always will be difficult, there is a surplus of capital nonetheless floating about.

Entrepreneurial DNA is different than Investor DNA. For this reason Basil advises entrepreneurs to create an exit strategy before financing their company. You must understand that different investors are compatible with different types of exit strategies, so select investors whose DNA mingles well with that of you and your exit plan. An investor vehemently opposed to the entrepreneur’s exit strategy can be a severely detrimental conflict down the road.

Ultimately, the exit strategy is just another business process. And it can be simple. In its most basic form, “Our exit strategy is to sell our company in X years for approximately Y million dollars.” THis can  be expanded on, maybe to half a page, but it doesn’t have to be. This concrete clarity works wonders even as a single sentences. Make sure you have investors and partners and shareholders to sign this exit strategy and formally check its alignment annually (if possible, have everyone re-sign it).

SUMMARY

1. Most acquisitions are under $15 million.

2. Modern companies require minimal capital.

3. Bootstrap your company if you can; if not, use friends and family.

4. Angels before VCs.

5. Optimum exit strategy: target your exit for under $30 million.

6. Start at the end!

QUESTIONS

Q: How can you be so general about the $30 million exit?

A. We’re working with statistics here, the median of M&A transactions etc. It’s not an absolute fact that every exit should be this size. I am generalizing in a huge way but the reality is that most acquisitions are this small or much smaller, so my advice to plan for something within that range.

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Q: What about Apple and Microsoft? Did they have exit strategies?

A: Their exit strategy was to file an IPO, raise massive capital, and scale.

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Q: Can I lower my price to sell my company faster?

A: It depends on a great number of factors. The problem with selling as fast as possible can create problems that price reductions simply cannot speed up. Due diligence must be done. Wealthy individuals can close fastest, private corporations somewhat fast, and public companies very slow.

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Q:  Are “weekenders” really selling a company or just an idea?

A: They’re not selling ideas. Ideas are nearly impossible to sell. Even weekenders must prove their business model with fundamental metrics.

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Q: If my company isn’t approached by buyers, how do I get on their radar?

A: If buyers come knocking on your door, it’s usually bad news for the sellers. Why? These guys typically have their performance rated by how little they buy your company for. They come to negotiate a low price with you before anyone else knows you exist. They’re professional and sophisticated at this game and not your ideal buyer.

The truth is that most of the time sellers must reach out to potential buyers. And it’s a good idea to have at least three buyers bidding on you.

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Q: When looking for a buyer, do I look for a buyer within my industry?

A: It’s all about strategic fit. You’ll more likely find a willing inquirer within your industry, but regardless of industry, make sure they have a strong balance sheet and an history of acquiring smaller companies.

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Q: Does having debt change my exit strategy?

A: Warren Buffet once said “There’s nothing inherently good or bad about debt.” Having some debt won’t change much for the buyer in most circumstances.

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Q: What are deal breakers when it comes to exiting?

A: CEO makes the mistake of trying to exit it himself without experience. Entrepreneurs should seek outside professional help. Deals also fall apart on represenations and warranties a lot—more than price.

Have an exit team including the CEO, an experienced attorney, and an M&A expert. Use the latter to actually sell the company, not the attorney or CEO.

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That’s it!

Join us this week for the final seminar in our 2011 seminar series, Start at the End: Exit Strategy with Basil Peters of Fundamental Technologies II and author of Early Exits. Note that our final seminar is this Tuesday, June 7th (not our usual Thursdays).

Register online now and head on over to the SFU Segal Graduate School of Business to network starting at 5:30pm and then grab a seat for the 6:00pm seminar start.

If you’re registered in the 2011 Competition, the seminar series is included but these events are also open to the public. The cost is $20 for each individual seminar or $100 for the series. Students with valid ID can attend for free.

Presented by David Shore of local investment bank Stirling Mercantile, this week’s seminar is titled “Perfecting Your Pitch.”

David will talk about communication, focus, and performing a financial presentation in this seminar.

COMMUNICATION IS KEY

Sometimes when taking pitches on behalf os Stirling Mercantile, 20 minutes into a one-hour presentation, David won’t have a clue what a company does or is about. This is a big problem and can make or break millions in funding or a key strategic partnership deal.

David points out that textual presentations don’t work well—people will read the text on the slideshow faster than you are speaking it, and you’ll become out of sync with your audience.

Apple is a good example of this. In Steve Job’s keynotes, the screen behind him typically has very few images and words, often a single image and a single line. It emphasized what he talks about and makes it obvious but his own words clarify and expand on the topic, grabbing the audience’s attention but still utilizing the slideshow.

An effective powerpoint presentation is graphic-based and minimalist in design. Do not distract your audience from your verbal presentation!

At 6:20, David says to never sit behind your audience so that they can be closer to your slideshow (as happens with text-based slideshows). Stand up front beside your screen and make eye contact and get a feel or the audience’s body language.

Avoid videos unless you feel they are truly an integral component of your presentation. It can disrupt the flow.

David’s slide then goes blank, a black screen. Everyone suddenly pays attention. Did it break down? No. It’s a tactic you can use to command attention and turn everyone’s focus to you so that you can make a key point.

FOCUS & PRESENTATION: BREAKING IT DOWN SLIDE BY SLIDE

Describe the problem you solve. This is the whole point of your existence.

Then say, we sell X product or service that helps Z (target market) to either save money or make money. If you can’t, is your business model really viable?

Each slide should last for anywhere between 10 seconds to two minutes each, depending on their importance and the length of your presentation (is it fifteen minutes long or an hour?). While not mandatory, 10 to 12 slides is generally a good number (less is okay, more usually becomes problematic).

At 6:35, David suggests to start with a title slide that displays your logo and is uncluttered. One type of slide early you can use is a “snapshot,” an image of your product with a punchy one-line that sums up a key aspect of what your business does or can do.

After the opening slide, start with your team. David says team slides often occur at the end, but there are advantages to having it at the beginning. It lends credibility to everything you say afterward and establishes you as a team of humans who have valuable knowledge and experience. Include titles and past stints, but keep it as succinct as possible.

The second-most important thing to get across to your audience (and therefore the third slide at this point) is the industry problem. What is it? After that, follow up immediately with your solution in slide four: this is how we’ll solve that problem.

Next, talk about the size of your addressable market. Throw up a pie chart that breaks down the market so investors can see the potential.

At this point, if your product is software or something otherwise demonstratable, such as a hardware prototype, bring it out and show it off at this point.

Next, David says to highlight your competition and how you can positively differentiate for them. After that, discuss execution: your sales strategy, your marketing strategy, your channels and partners—the real mechanics of how you’ll be able to succeed with your product in the market. If you’re an established company, you can use a visual timeline to keep the slide graphical; startups can use a roadmap chart.

What’s left? Financials, of course. But companies often struggle predicting future revenue. The trick is to realize that this is not trying to predict the future, it’s about saying “These are the numbers we’ll hit if we reach our planned milestones on point.” Include things like gross revenue, direct operating expenses, profitability, etc., each year for one, two, three, four, and five years. No need to go after five years but never go below that; investors don’t want to do the math for you and if they do, it will probably be underestimated against your favour. Use a graphic chart to portray this data visually.

Even if you don’t feel tremendously confident that your money numbers are accurate, you simply must have these numbers regardless: if an investor doesn’t see that you have a plan of what to do with his or her money, that’s a huge red flag. Know your “runway”—that is, how long you have before you run out of money, or runway, and your plane, or your business, doesn’t take flight.

Your final slide should be a summary that you leave up  that succinctly summarized your team, market opportunity, timing, etc. (and include contact information as well). This summary allows investors to recall the presentations and makes for a superior Q&A session, which is often at least as long as the presentation itself—sometimes twice as long!

In the slide that you send to the audience ahead of time, include a detailed appendix that includes everything your 10 to 14 slide presentation doesn’t have room to include. And have these on your slide in the presentation too, just don’t use them unless someone references it in a question afterward. Then you look tremendously prepared with your response.

To follow up to the presentation: send off a short email to the audience that same night.

NEVER SAY…

“Our projections are conservative.” Investors won’t believe you.

“We have no competition.” Is this because your product is not needed, or because you’ve failed to adequately research your industry?

“We have a first-mover advantage.” First movers are often at a disadvantage. Facebook, Ebay, PayPal, etc. all beat the true first movers. (It does work sometimes though; think Groupon.)

“We only need to capture x% of the market share.” It’s a cop-out that shows you don’t know how to execute on your business plan.

The eighth seminar in the BCIC-New Ventures 10-week seminar series is this Thursday, June 2nd.

Presented by David Shore of Stirling Mercantile, this week’s seminar is “Perfecting your Pitch.”

Register online now and head on over to the SFU Segal Graduate School of Business to network starting at 5:30pm and then grab a seat for the 6:00pm seminar start.

If you’re registered in the 2011 Competition, the seminar series is included but these events are also open to the public. The cost is $20 for each individual seminar or $100 for the series. Students with valid ID can attend for free.

If you can’t end up making this week’s seminar, I will be live-blogging and tweeting the event for your convenience.

Presented by Tanner Philp of RBC Phillips, Hager & North, this presentation is “All about funding: Friends & Family, Angels, VCs.”

This Wednesday, May 25th the BCIC-New Ventures Competition is hosting our second Agritech seminar – All About Funding with speakers Kim Ross and Mike Welte of Farm Credit Canada and Jan Langton of NRC-IRAP.

The seminar takes place at the BCIT Downtown Campus at 555 Seymour Street in room 830. Registration and networking begin at 1:30pm and the seminar runs from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Refreshments will be provided.

Tickets are $10 for general admission but free for students, BCIC-New Ventures competitors and volunteers. Register online.

For those of you that are unable to make it in person, be sure to check out the webcast:

To join the presentation online: http://bcit-ptc.adobeconnect.com/r1ltb3sng2u/ [login as guest]

If you have never attended an Adobe Connect meeting before, be sure to test your connection here:

http://bcit-ptc.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

The seventh seminar in the BCIC-New Ventures 10-week seminar series is this Thursday, May 26th.

Presented by Tanner Philp of RBC Phillips, Hager & North, this presentation is “All about funding: Friends & Family, Angels, VCs.”

Register online now and head on over to the SFU Segal Graduate School of Business to network starting at 5:30pm and then grab a seat for the 6:00pm seminar start.

If you’re registered in the 2011 Competition, the seminar series is included but these events are also open to the public. The cost is $20 for each individual seminar or $100 for the series. Students with valid ID can attend for free.

If you can’t end up making this week’s seminar, I will be live-blogging and tweeting the event for your convenience.

This week’s seminar is called Media Training for Startups and is presented by Edelman’s Elisha McCallum.

6:05pm: Elisha opens up by asking if any of the attendees Googled her prior to the event, saying it’s imperative to research anyone and everything before dealing with them.

Think about things from the media’s perspective. What are they after? What may they want to know about you and your business and why?

Elisha shows some “train wreck” interviews: the Arizona Governor’s live-TVstumble, Sarah Palin’s random rambling, Miss Teen South Carolina’s embarrassing makes-no-sense answer, George Bush’s many media follies, etc., pointing out what is wrong with each—lack of preparedness, lack of focus, letting the nerves of live events get the better of you, and, in the case of Bush, plain stupidity.

What drives news, what makes a good story, and how reporting has changed

Change, Controversy, Human Interest, Innovation are the four key drivers of news (that is, what media wants to cover).

What makes a good story?

• Impact. does it resonate with viewers?
• Prominence. Is it a page one or lead item?
• Proximity. is it “close to home?”
• Conflict. Are the parties entrenched.
• Usualness of novelty. Man bites dog?
• Currency. Is it topical or trendy?

At 6:25 Elisha says that “reporting has changed.” Reporters verify sources and double-check facts less now because of shorter news cycles. Broadcasters used to chase print but now print often chases broadcast (and online). Focus is on speed not quality: who can get news out first. Bloggers and social media channels are content sources and delivery channels.

Why you want to talk with media

• Promote, position, and explain
• Drive preference for your products,
• Put company decisions into context
• Raise your personal profile
• Enhance your company’s reputation
• Highlight successes
• Defuse controversy
• Foster positive stakeholder relationships.

Understanding the media

1. Their job is to get the story; their deadlines are real (ask them when they need your story by).
2. They don’t need to tell you their angle, but they do need to identify themselves as media.
3. Not out to make you look bad but don’t get paid to make you look good.
4. They are paid to be skeptical and ask tough questions, whether you want to be asked or not.
5. They want to interest their audience with quotes and interesting angles.
6. They don’t have to follow many protocols.
7. You are always on the record when dealing with them.
8. Anyone from your company who talks to media can be considered by them a company spokesperson.

The characteristics of media today

Print, Radio, Television, and Online.

PRINT: newspapers, magazines, trade journals, etc., each with their own deadlines and ways of doing things. There is higher detail and analysis than in other media. And watch out: the headline is written by the editor. Tip: stick with short, focused messages.

RADIO: relies on sound. Pitches are short. Have a good voice (not monotone) and keep it succinct. Radio is low on detail, high on immediacy.

TELEVISION: Visual medium. Interview clips mixed with news reporter narrative. TV time is premium: be brief and to-the-point. News is usually two minutes long on the 6 oclock news, so keep your message tight.

ONLINE: A “whole different ballgame.” There are online versions of all the above media. But now there is Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc. Online has the highest speed with worldwide reach and super ease of publication (anyone can make news). Social media is always on, and everything you say online is on the record and are permanent (even if you delete your message, it may have been screenshotted or copy and pasted within seconds of posting).

Interviews

Interviews are opportunities. Get your message across, make a good impression, highlight successes or diffuse controversy, and influence people’s opinions.

Interviews are not a debate (never, ever argue with a reporter), an educational exchange, a friendly chat, or off the record.

When media calls, assess the opportunity. What can the interview achieve at this time—is there a better time, such as a future product launch? What are the cons of turning the interview down? What key audiences can be reached in this specific circumstance?

Prepare: gather background information . Determine your key messages. Prepare by practising key Q&As and delivering your messages. Adjust your speech pattern if necessary (speed up, slow down, pause). Say things out loud in front of a mirror or family/friends. Know the 5Ws (who, what, where, when, why).

Massage your message into a 10-second sound bite—your “in a nutshell” statement, the key takeaway. And deliver it with confidence. The tagline you “punch somebody in the face with.”

Think like a reporter. What is the reporter’s approach or angle? What hardball or curveball questions might be asked? Who else may be included in the story? What’s the deadline? Why should the reporter and their audience believe and support your points?

The Hollywood Story does NOT work with media. In fact it’s practically the opposite. The climax of the story in Hollywood occurs at the end; in news, it’s right in the headline and first paragraph.

Take and retain control of the interview—you can and always should prepare in advance, lead the discussion, and say you don’t have an answer for a question.

If you’re a spokesperson, its your responsibility to use every question to deliver an important message and tell your story; ensure all important points are made; strongly counter false statements or incorrect points; deliver and reiterate critical messages early and often. Remember the three C’s: Control, Comfort, Conversation.

Top Three Media Relations Tips:

1. Personalize. The more interesting you are, the more interesting your story.
2. Humanize. Bring characters in your story to life.
3. Dramatize. Raise the stakes, inject some drama, use anecdotes.

Proven interview techniques

1. Respond, don’t answer. Be creative, not a robot.
2. Stay close to home. Be succinct with your answer , 30 seconds or less.
3. Bridge back to your messages. Always link to your initial statement.
4. Flagging. Highlight your key points as often as possible, simply and succinctly.
5. Headlining. State conclusion and key messages first.
6. Directing. Lead reporter to the topics you want to discuss.
7. The wrap-up. Seize or create opportunities to re-emphasize key messages.

Interview Do’s

• Bridge away from “what if,” rely on “what if.”
• Flag key points.
• Speak in lay men’s terms.
• Ask for clarification if confused by a Q.
• Use facts, figures, anecdotes where applicable.
• Correct misinformation immediately.
• Finish your answer.
• Be sensitive to reporter’s deadlines.
• Be engaging and likeable.
• Be yourself.

Interview Don’ts

• Over-answer or answer Q’s you weren’t asked.
• Repeat or respond to negative language.
• Be afraid to pause and think about your answer.
• Be intimidated by rapid-fire Q’s.
• Rush to fill silence.
• Allow yourself to be provoked.
• Assume the reported knows more about the topic than you do.
• Assume the microphone or camera off immediately before or after the interview (Always on the record).
• Give answers when you are unsure about the accuracy of facts.
• Say “no comment.”

Summary

1. Develop your own agenda.
2. Know your messages and the facts.
3. Link messahes to a sount bite.
4. Prepare by practising out loud.
5. Remember your rights.
6. Communicate like a reporter.
7. Be yourself.

At 7:30, Elisha challenges the members of the audience to come up with five key messages that they would want a reporter to know about their business or story, noting that people will be selected to present their key messages in front of the crowd.

But first, she addresses an audience question: how can one manage which media covers your stories and in what light? Elisha says this is exceptionally difficult, but not impossible. It requires finesse, but also luck. Target one segment of media—newspapers, Twitter, etc.—and focus on it. But ultimately, you cannot  control what other media may pick up on your story or take another angle, especially with the online dominance.

Another audience member asks about Facebook—is it a corporate media tool or not? Elisha says that, although Facebook claims it is not, it absolutely is. Numerous corporations use Facebook as a tool to engage media and consumers very effectively.

Then an audience member by the name Julian of D2D Campaign Solutions comes up to present his key messages, which focus on a grassroots approach to campaigning. Afterward, Elisha practise-interviews him on the spot. She says while Julian didn’t exactly quote his key messages, he did get them across, which is what matters. Julian succeeded to demonstrating genuine passion and he took Elisha’s curveball questions well. Negatively, he wasn’t quick to the punch in promoting his website for accessibility and didn’t highlight his success stories well enough. Overall, though, he did well given the circumstances. Guess he learned a lot from the seminar!

Q&A

Q. Is it a good idea to suggest to the reporter related people to interview about the story?

A. Absolutely.

Q. Do reporters like to be solicited?

A. Most often, they do. Just don’t contact them near their deadline.

The sixth seminar in BCIC-New Ventures 10-week seminar series is this Thursday, May 19th with Elisha McCallum of PR Agency Edelman presenting “Media Training for Startups”.

Register online now and head on over to the SFU Segal Graduate School of Business to network starting at 5:30pm and then grab a seat for the 6:00pm seminar start.

If you’re registered in the 2011 Competition, the seminar series is included but these events are also open to the public. The cost is $20 for each individual seminar or $100 for the series. Students with valid ID can attend for free.

This week’s seminar is presented by Roger Kuypers and Susan Ben-Oliel of Fasken Martineau and Mario Kasapi of UBC and is called “Managing Your Intellectual Property.”

Intellectual property (IP). Roger opens up at 6:05pm by explaining the four pillars of intellectual property: copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and patents. What types of IP protect software? The answer is all four!

COPYRIGHT: Copyright protects the expression of an idea, but no the idea itself. Copyright is the sole right to produce or reproduce a work, or a substantial part of a work. Wait, but was is a “work”? It is things like books, songs, computer programs, instruction manuals, even website designs. What is required to get  a copyright on a work? First, it must be original (this does not necessarily mean creative). Second, it must be expressed to some extent in some material form, which is called “fixation.”

Generally, the author or creator of a work has first ownership of copyright. This includes freelancers creating work for others—so if you hire a contractor, make sure you forge a contract that grants you copyright. However, employees creating things for their employees don’t own copyright typically, the employer does.

Moral rights are a components of copyrights. They can only belong to people, and cannot be assigned (but can be waived). Moral rights give the author an exclusive right to be associated with the work and the integrity of the work. Fortunately, this potential concern can be eradicated with a single line of text in any given contract—just ask them to waive their moral rights.

Next, Roger discusses copyright protection. It arises automatically, he says. Use the copyright symbol and register for copyright when dealing with anything semi-important. It isn’t as big a deal as in the U.S., but it is a simple and inexpensive process. But then how do you manage your copyrights once you own them? Focus on ownership and rights. Ask yourself about your company, how are copyright works developed? And what do your contracts say about copyright? Look at employment agreements, service contracts, licenses, etc.

TRADEMARKS:  At 6:30pm, Roger explains that the “goodwill associated with products and companies reside in their respective trademarks.” This is hugely important. In fact, Roger argues trademarks are even more important than trademarks—consumers make decisions based on trademarks.

Managing trademarks: First, pick a good trademark. What makes a good one? Distinctness, AKA the ability to distinguish your wares from others. Search other trademarks to make sure none are similar to yours. Your trademark does not describe your wares and services—your brand builds that meaning and association overtime. (Consider Kodak or Apple, names entirely unassociated with their wares and yet brands have been been built around them.)

Search for statutory rights and common law rights when searching and clearing your trademark. Search the Canadian Intellectual Property Office Trademarks Registry. You can also do Knockout Searches, which are searches of registry databases such as CIPO, USPTO, etc. The pros of this method are high speed and low cost.

Roger advises the audience to apply the TM symbol in as many contexts as possible—it’s not do or die, but it can make things easier if you ever engage in legal battle. Which leads Roger to one of his final points: make sure you enforce your trademarks thoroughly. One pitfall of trademarks is that if your trademark ends up describing the product (think Thermos or Kleenex), you may lose your rights. Then again, that level of ubiquity means it’s a problem you probably wouldn’t mind having.

As 6:50 rolls around, Rogers runs out of time and is forced to rush through his remaining slides. However, these slides, plus a video of the seminar, will be online in a few days for those interested.

Next up is Susan Ben-Oliel, also of Fasken Martineau.

She opens up by saying that multiple forms of IP can be used to protect a single product. In fact, all four pillars of IP can apply can be associated with one product, but a fully integrated protection plan is both costly and time consuming.

PATENTS: A patent is essentially a contract with the government—in exchange for disclosing your invention publicly, you are granted a term of monopoly. If your company has an idea, keep it absolutely secret until it is patented or it will be stolen. Why choose a patent? Gives you a monopolistic right to prevent others from making, using, or selling the invention. It lasts u to two decades. The downside? You must disclose your invention, and you will eventually lose it to public domain.

But wait! Even if you get a patent claim granted, that doesn’t necessarily mean you are able to operate the invention. The freedom to operate is not the same as having a patent go through. And you are solely responsible for policing your own patent.

At 7:00pm, Susan goes over how to obtain a patent: maintain full secrecy before filing your patent. (In Canada and the U.S., you have a one-year grace period during which you can disclose your invention before filing the patent but it doesn’t apply outside of North America, so be wary.) The U.S. is actually often the best country to file your patent in because the filing time doesn’t eat up the monopoly term, whereas in Canada it does.

Also note, Susan says, that not everything is patentable—it must be new (a novelty), non-obvious (not a tweak of past inventions), and a utility (it does as described). No one else in the entire world can have made available your invention to the public before you file for your patent. The inventive ingenuity of your patent must be a development or improvement that isn’t obvious to workers of average skill in the technology involved. Traditional patents into electronics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; less traditional patents include games, software, and business methods.

At 7:15pm, Susan says you may be surprised at what is patentable. But patents can be expensive, and are territorial—so you have file a separate patent in each country where your product or service or invention will be utilized in any manner. First-time applicants may want to file for a provisional patent, as it is cheaper.

What’s an inventor, she asks? A person who has a definite and conception of the invention and can describe to others how to practise invention. Patents can be invalidated if inventorship is incorrect and error reflects deceptive intent. Patents can be used as both defensive and offensive tools. Patent portfolios are important to investors. Patent trolling is a legitimate way to earn revenue. Patents can be bought and sold. Companies can also join “patent pools” to combine their patents with each other for greater legal freedom of utilizing inventions.

TRADE SECRETS: trade secrets are information of commercial value that are not disclosed to the public—part of the value is that the information is unknown to the public and competitors. Examples of trade secrets include technology, formulas and recipes, client/customer information, and even “know how.”

To keep trade secrets, Susan says you must do so via contracts including your employees (use non-disclosure agreements). Mark documents as confidential, control access, lock doors and cabinets—it sounds Hollywood-style, but trade secrets are just that: secrets!

At 7:25pm, Susan notes that disadvantages include the fact that your technology can be reverse engineered, you can’t regain secrecy after something is exposed, and these secrets can be expensive to maintain. If you have an innovate idea, keep it secret regardless of whether it is or will become a trade secret. It never hurts!

If you want to turn your TS into a patent, be warned: once a patent goes through, you lose its associated TS all over the world. Susan’s presentation ends a touch abruptly in the name of time.

Mario Kasapi of UBC begins his portion of the presentation at 7:35pm following a brief break as he prepares to discuss commercialization models, namely licensing. How will you commercialize your IP? Three ways: integrator, orchestrator, and licensor.

LICENSES: Are you going to license or assign your IP? These two methods differ in fundamental ways, Mario says. An assignment shifts the ownership in the IP from the assignor to the assignee. Assignments are preferred to licenses by IP purchasers, by investors, and acquirers, although IP owners prefer to license technology.

Licenses form a special form a contract. The licensor retainers ownership of the IP. There are few limits on the possibilities of license terms.  The main provisions of a license are term (how long will your license last for?), exclusivity (licensing to one or multiple companies?), scope of use (what will licensee be allowed to do with the IP?), territory (where will your licenses be active?), fees (fixed, royalties, mixed?), modifications or improvements (can the IP be changed while under license?), transferability (will you restrict your license or make it saleable to third parties?), indemnifications, and termination (under what circumstances will you end the license early).

To manage your IP, start good management practises now, Mario says! Keep good records. Watch your contracts. Maintain a due diligence binder. This will allow you to raise investment capital more easily and discourage IP thieves.