Efrat's
Message
:
Greetings to all our colleagues, friends and clients!
In this newsletter, we feature two of Foresight's latest appearances in the media, both related to the topic of financial fundamentals for startups. I have recently shared insights on
Telling Your Story With Numbers in a webinar to European and Japanese companies, discussing the creation of realistic financial projections to effectively communicate funding needs and valuation expectations (this is the abbreviated version of a 3-hour workshop that I regularly teach at Stanford and around Silicon valley). I have also given an interview to Silicon Valley Bank on
How to Calculate Burn Rate and Understand a Cash Burn Analysis, where I elaborate on some of the best practices associated with cash flow management in startup. My favorite quote from this interview is the following: "
Venture capitalists will always push you to move faster. They didn't give you money not to spend it!".
The Foresight blog this month has a few interesting blogs dealing with brands and copyrights, some of the prominent non-patent forms of IP. We discuss the
Supreme Court's March 2019 decision in the
Fourth Estate v. Wall-Street.com
copyright infringement case
. The Court discussed the oddity of copyrights where the creator of a work automatically has copyright protection on that work, but that protection is effectively useless without registration if registration as opposed to application is required to initiate an infringement suit.
We also discuss the
concept of
a trademark's "fair use"
and how some companies toe the line of infringement, while others embrace fair use to benefit their overall brand equity.
Finally, we are pleased to announce the upcoming
Startup Financial Fundamentals, a 2-part series hosted by Access Silicon Valley, where I will be discussing
financial modeling and valuation for startups and emerging technologies, and how to leverage intellectual property for funding and growth. The talks are taking place at Procopio's Palo Alto office, and are also broadcast live (for those who are not based in the Bay Area).
I hope you enjoy our newsletter, and have a wonderful start to your Spring season!
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Foresight in the Media
Looking to build a fundable financial model for your startup, but don't know where to start? You are not alone.... creating a set of realistic financial projections is one of the most daunting tasks for most founders! And yet, it is critical to effectively communicate funding needs and valuation expectations to investors and potential business partners, while at the same time serving as an important tool to prioritize spending and guarantee the economic survival of your startup. In this webinar, Efrat shares her experiences as a Silicon-Valley valuation expert, entrepreneur, start-up advisor and Stanford Lecturer, providing practical insights and hands-on tools for the creation of a balanced, credible and fundable financial model for the early stage venture, while highlighting some of the pitfalls to avoid when presenting your financial plan to investors.
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Foresight Blog Highlights
On March 4, 2019 the Supreme Court of the United Stated issued its decision in the Fourth Estate v. Wall-Street.com copyright infringement case. The issue before the Court related to the interpretation of title 17 U.S.C. section 411(a) which, according to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's unanimous opinion, permits only one sensible reading: "The phrase 'registration . . . has been made' refers to the Copyright Office's act granting registration, not to the copyright claimant's request for registration.'" The Court discussed the oddity of copyrights where the creator of a work automatically has copyright protection on that work, but that protection is effectively useless without registration if registration as opposed to application is required to initiate an infringement suit. Justice Ginsburg's opinion settled inconsistent holdings in Circuit courts and established the precedent that registration by the Copyright Office, not simply filing an application, is a prerequisite for initiating a copyright infringement suit in federal court.
Trademark protection is a key component of any brand strategy. Unauthorized use of a trademark by a 3rd party can result in loss of control by the brand manager for key brand elements such as positioning and association. The latest blog in our brand strategy series discusses the concept of "fair use" and how some companies toe the line of infringement. Conversely, the piece also discusses how embrace of fair use can benefit the trademark holder in certain scenarios and serve to benefit overall brand equity.
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IP News Digest
A jury in federal court in San Diego has ruled that Apple owes Qualcomm roughly $31 million for infringing three of the company's patents. The infringed patents relate to technology that help mobile phones increase battery life. This is another chapter in the ongoing legal battles between the two companies. A suit filed by Apple in 2017 seeks to attack Qualcomm's "illegal" business model of both licensing patents and selling chips to phone makers. Although this is a small win for Qualcomm, a New York attorney says that it is unlikely to spark settlement discussions.
Content creators who opposed the controversial European copyright directive say that the new law may actually end up hurting them. When the law comes up for final vote on March 25, some content creators worry that its passing might end up censoring their work instead of protecting it. The opposition is specifically focused on Article 13 of the proposed law, which they have dubbed the "meme ban." Currently, internet platforms monitor copyright violations on a case-by-case basis after the content has already been uploaded. The meme ban will require platforms to install systems that scan for violations before the content is uploaded. Ultimately, creators are concerned that legal, fair use of their content will be filtered out in addition to infringing use.
Mellanox Technologies, a high-performance-computing equipment maker, sparked a bidding war when it hit the market. It was recently announced that Nvidia prevailed in that bidding war, agreeing to a $7 billion deal with the company - the largest acquisition in Nvidia's history. With giants like Intel and Microsoft also reportedly bidding, it is no surprise that Nvidia paid a 14.3% premium on a recent Mellanox closing share price.
CNBC conducted a poll in which one in five U.S. corporations say that their IP has been stolen by China within the last year. This is particularly topical as IP theft has been a major point of contention in the trade talks between the Trump administration and China. Among the many ways by which Chinese companies obtain U.S. IP, corporate espionage and cyberattacks are two prominent methods. Additionally, the Chinese government has enforced forced technology transfers, in which it compels companies that are investing in China to provide details on their IP and license agreements.
On March 18th, the Stanford HAI officially launched at a symposium that featured speakers such as Bill Gates and Gavin Newsom. Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne stated, "Now is our opportunity to shape the future by putting humanists and social scientists alongside people who are developing artificial intelligence... This approach aligns with Stanford's founding purpose to produce knowledge for the betterment of humanity." The HAI launched with 200 faculty from all seven schools at the university, and plans to hire at least 2 new faculty, including 10 junior fellows, from fields such as humanities, engineering, medicine, the arts or the basic sciences.
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Upcoming Events
When: 2 part-series: Wednesday, April 17 & Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Where: Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP, 1117 California Avenue, Palo Alto.
Efrat Kasznik,
Foresight President, Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Chair of the High Tech Sector of the Licensing Executives Society (USA-Canada), will share insights from her 25 years of experience as an IP valuation and strategy expert, as well as a Silicon-Valley entrepreneur, CFO, investor and startup advisor.
This two-part series explores the fundamentals of financial modeling and valuation involving startups and emerging technologies, and how to leverage your intellectual property (IP) portfolio for funding and growth. The talks will be given in Palo Alto (hosted by the
Procopio office in Palo Alto) and broadcast to a broad international audience. Registration links are coming up on
Access Silicon Valley.
Part 1:
Wednesday, April 17, 2019 @ 6:00pm-9:00pm
Part 2:
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 @ 6:00pm-9:00pm
The second installment of the series,
Monetizing Innovation: Leveraging Intellectual Property for Funding and Growth,
explores the interaction between IP assets and corporate value, and how to manage your IP portfolio to support funding and growth.
Efrat Kasznik
, President of
Foresight Valuation Group
, Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Chair of the High Tech Sector of the Licensing Executives Society (USA-Canada), will share insights from her 25 years of experience as an IP valuation and strategy expert, as well as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, CFO, investor and advisor. Throughout her career, Efrat has advised hundreds of companies of all sizes and across a wide range of industries, on how to extract value from innovation.
When: Wednesday, April 17, 2019
8:00am - 4:45pm
Where: Oracle Conference Center, Redwood City
The LES Silicon Valley Chapter's 19th Annual Conference is composed of expert panels who will provide insights related to the intersection of 5G and IP, including:
- What is 5G and why does it matter?
- Who are the 5G players in semiconductors, handsets, IoT, and other markets?
- What are the key new enterprise and consumer-facing apps that 5G enables?
- What does the 5G patent landscape look like?
- What are the licensing and other partnering models for 5G, and what are their business and IP implications?
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