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Using Blogs To Dispense Venture Capital

Posted by timothy on from the two-birds-with-one-buzzword dept.

prostoalex writes "The New York Times describes how Tim Draper, a founder of Draper Fisher Juvetson venture capital firm, is trying out a new approach to finding the next entrepreneurial superstars. In his Web log (which NYTimes mysteriously never links to, but it's on AlwaysOn-Network), Draper asks the readers to leave the comments with their billion-dollar ideas. The winners of this pitch were selected recently, and just reading the comments with innovative ideas is quite interesting."

6 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I never got the word "blog." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    Wikipedia - Etymology of Blog

  2. Re:This seems like an interesting idea... by autopr0n · · Score: 2, Informative

    But I don't know if I would want to submit my idea out in the public before I had a chance to gather some financing to protect it. I also don't want my competitors to get an early leg up on my business before I have a chance to become competitive.

    Usualy the winning submissions come from companies that already exist, have a few people and at least some work done on the product. They're not just handing out money for hair-brained ideas :P

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
  3. In the US by autopr0n · · Score: 2, Informative

    You have two years after public disclosure before you have to patent your idea.

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
  4. Re:I never got the word "blog." by kartiknarayan · · Score: 2, Informative

    Web-log... shortened to 'blog'

  5. Re:Intellectual Property Theft by femto · · Score: 2, Informative
    I can see that this can be used to prove that you were thinking or knew something on a particular date, but doesn't prior art require that your ideas be disseminated, not just posted to yourself?

    To counter the use of registered mail, the patent holder might argue along the lines: "Yes your honour, the mail proves that this person was thinking about my invention on that date, but they did not publish it until later. I claim that any page put on the Internet was different to the page in that envelope."

    The problem seems to be that prior art requires not only invention but publication. Registered mail proves the invention part but not publication.

    Have I misunderstood?

  6. Poor man' s Patent = Provisional Patent by krysith · · Score: 2, Informative

    A much better idea, in the US, is to apply for a Provisional Patent. Look it up on www.uspto.gov. Basically, it establishes patent rights for 1 year, during which you must apply for a patent if you want one. At the end of the year, the information you disclosed becomes public knowledge, if the patent has not been applied for. It's relatively cheap (compared to a regular utility patent), at $80 for a "small entity" (like an individual inventor). The prov pat has much more legal standing than a sealed and dated envelope.