The focus of competitive advantage in many science and technology startups is, not surprisingly, on the science and technology. Many sci-tech startups choose to protect the innovative function over the innovative form, and I think that’s a huge miss.

On the topic of selling, I have just one question- have you seen Glengerry Glenn Ross? This movie is a story about the salesman, and is a classic, slow-burn depiction of the consequences of greed. I love this movie because the story is a great example of the choices humans make in order to turn a buck, and the consequences of those choices.

Launching science and technology products on Kickstarter, or any crowdsourcing platform can be intense. I’ve seen a few of my clients launch successfully, but I can tell you from first hand experience, it took a lot of planning, community-building, and strategizing around the product’s intellectual property.