The 4×4 Innovation Financing Book

Put Yourself in a Powerful Position by Getting Money on the Table

 

As an inventor, you might be tempted to just focus on developing your product. 

Maybe you only start looking for investment when your product gets somewhere. Or, when you run out of money. In the meantime, financing is something to postpone. And there’s always your savings and loans from family and friends. 

Do not do this. 

I have seen too many inventors make this mistake. When they are finally ready to get financing, they end up:  

• getting poor investment terms—they give up too much equity, for too low a valuation 
• settling for bad investors—trust me, the sharks can smell your desperation!
• unable to find the money—then they run out of cash, and endanger their invention 
• begging supporters to fund them—and destroying their personal relationships 

You must understand that innovation financing is inextricably linked to not only your R&D, but also to your freedom-to-operate, intellectual property, market validation, and every aspect of your bigger innovation strategy. 

Innovation financing is NOT something you do after the above. Innovation financing should support not only your product development, but also your entire business. 

In fact, innovation is about converting a novel product idea into money on the table.

Most inventors forget the “money on the table” part. In this book, I show you why it matters, and how to do it. 

Introducing The 4×4 Innovation Financing Book 

The idea for this book came from a public talk: Blockchain Technology Meets 4×4 Innovation Financing. It made me realise that most inventors do not understand innovation financing, which puts them at a disadvantage. I am determined to change that.

If you have read my book, The 4×4 Innovation Strategy, you will know that while innovation is fundamentally risky, the right strategy will improve your chances of bringing your product to market. 

In The 4×4 Innovation Financing Book, I will focus on how you can get money on the table. Specifically, how you should approach your financing as part of your innovation strategy. 

Topics will include: 

• How to do product pre-sales (and make sure that everyone knows about it).  It is important to do pre-sales even before your product is ready. Because it provides cash-flow, increases product value, helps your market validation, and also makes you more attractive to investors.
• How to leverage on blockchain technology (and expand your financing options). By setting up a secure, public exchange that is sensitive to marketing efforts, you have a powerful strategy for getting money on your own terms. 
• How to identify the right investors for you (and negotiate from a strong position). Great investors understand your product and are useful partners. Terrible investors actively obstruct you or even try to kill your product. How do you differentiate the good from bad, and how do you negotiate terms? 
• How to set up an investment-friendly business (and improve your due diligence). In financing, IP is a form of insurance, because a patent portfolio in place means that inventors cannot run away to open a similar business next door after the investment. 
• How to clear the IP field (and get ahead of your competitors). Patents can be used in both offensive and defensive ways. Here I explain some quick and low-cost strategies to protect your invention, while you go out and seek financing.  
• How to evaluate your appetite for risk (and assess your suitability as entrepreneur). There is always risk involved and it depends on the type of financing you choose. Here are examples and questions for you to figure out your natural risk appetite. 
• and many more. 

Book Outline

A. The Structure

1. Innovation has 2 parts: creating a novel product idea, and converting it to money on the table. One without the other is useless. 
2. Bad example 1: looking for investors, and getting bad terms – resulting in poor returns
3. Bad example 2: crowdsourcing, and not getting funded – resulting in product failure
   

B. The Hierarchy 

1. 5 types of financing, and why the best financing is pre-sales.
2. The 4×4 innovation strategy: in an ideal product development cycle, market validation of the product occurs through pre-sales. 
3. Traditional financing: the 4×4 matrix and investor proof – how to put yourself in a strong position to attract investors.
4. Blockchain financing: the 4×4 matrix with token infrastructure – how to use blockchain to boost market validation and pre-sales. 

C. The Rules

1. Basic funding sources: your savings, bank loans, government subsidies. What about family and friends? Advantages and disadvantages of each. 
2. Looking for investors: the investment eco-system, what do investors want, identifying the right investors for you, negotiating from a strong position. 
3. Blockchain technology: benefits for pre-sales compared to traditional investment approach, types of tokens, blockchain infrastructure, other applications of utility tokens to pre-sales. 
4. Building what the market wants: how to ensure R&D is building the right product 
5. Creating an investment-friendly business: how to do due diligence and FTO
6. IP Strategies to boost your financing: why provisional patents, and other smart and low-cost strategies 
7. The importance of marketing: how social media and news affects your perceived value
8. Investment risk assessment: how much risk are you willing to take, and your suitability for entrepreneurship.

D. The Consequence

• Two successful examples vs the two bad examples from part A

E. Conclusion and the Future

• Predictions and Resources 

Be part of this book: get your questions answered

I believe in only writing useful books that readers actually want to read. So I need your feedback. 

• Is there anything else you want to see in the book outline? 
• Do you have specific questions about investment and innovation financing that remain unanswered?  
• Have you had a bad experience with financing your invention? And would you like to share your story, with my thousands of readers and community members? 

I welcome you to be part of this book. 

Enter the members-only discussion forum below, or email me at martin-schweiger@ip-lawyer.tools.com

As an early contributer, you will get credited in the book. You will also receive a free abridged copy when it is published, as well as all future upgrades. Bonus: if you aren’t a member already, you get a 1-year membership to the ip-lawyer-tools.com community. You can then discuss your question in the forum here:

 

 

Send in your questions! I look forward to hearing from you.