The Limited Role of Provisional Patents for Early-Stage Startups
By
gdad
An everything bagel for the brain. Substantive, layered, well-seasoned.
Summary
The article discusses the role of provisional patents for early-stage startups, arguing that patents are generally not crucial for software startups and address secondary concerns. The author identifies three primary risks for startups: value risk (will people care), usability risk (can people use it), and feasibility risk (can it be built), with business risk being the fourth and least important. Patents primarily address business risk, which is considered the last priority for early-stage startups, except in rare cases where patents are essential for business viability.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledPatents help solve business risk, but that's generally considered to be the 4th (and last) of the risks.
The biggest risk to building a startup isn't 'can I build this thing' (feasibility risk). It's 'will people even care if I build this thing' (value risk) then 'can I do it in a way people use' (usability risk).
There are exceptions where patents do need to be filed first or the business viability dies.
Generally patents are (1) not incredibly important in software (2) solving a question that's secondary.
You might also wanna read
Why Traditional Employment May Be Intellectually Unhealthy
The article argues that traditional employment (having a boss) is intellectually unhealthy, drawing a parallel to how modern diets are physi
paulgraham.com·13h ago
How Jeff Bezos left Wall Street, drove cross-country with MacKenzie Scott, and built Amazon's business plan from a car
The article recounts the origin story of Amazon, focusing on Jeff Bezos's decision in 1994 to leave his lucrative Wall Street job as a senio
luxurylaunches.com·21h ago
Podcast: E-Commerce Brand Owner Alan Li on Fighting Online Copycats and Protecting Intellectual Property
In this podcast episode, host Rob Cairns interviews Alan Li, an e-commerce brand owner and co-founder of CopyCatch, about the widespread pro
Former Meta engineer finds success betting on traditional websites instead of AI
Craig Campbell, a former Meta engineer and successful tech founder, deliberately chose not to pursue AI funding during the 2022 boom. Instea
The Verge·1d ago
Four Lessons From a Cybersecurity Founder on Building a Lasting Company
A cybersecurity founder shares four key lessons from 17 years of building a company: success depends more on market understanding, relations
securityboulevard.com·2d ago
Astera Labs wins EY World Entrepreneur of the Year award for AI data center connectivity solutions
Astera Labs, a Silicon Valley semiconductor company specializing in AI data center connectivity solutions, won the EY World Entrepreneur of
bit.ly·2d ago