The following is a questionnaire filled out for the Texas Entrepreneur’s Network Blog and originally posted at http://angelinvestinginaustin.blogspot.com/2013/10/steve-pearson-talks-about-business.html.
Steve
Steve Pearson Talks about Business Intelligence for Early Stage Companies
Where are you from originally?
I was born in Denver and moved to Boise, Idaho, in 7th grade. After high school, I moved to Texas to join my family’s home state and get a job. That’s a long way to say that I call Texas my home!
What university did you go to?
The University of Texas at San Antonio.
What is the idea behind your startup?
To provide business intelligence in the early phase of a need or idea development, when that information is most valuable.
For example, if you want to explore where a market is moving many years down the road, wouldn’t you want to know that another company already holds a patent similar to your technology?
Or, would you want to know about an adjacent technology that could disrupt your market and make it much smaller in the near future?
What need does it fulfill?
Many of the small to medium-sized businesses we help are used to keeping idea generation and development in-house. Only when the idea is fairly mature will due diligence be performed to verify future market sizes, patentability, technical feasibility and so on.
We believe this approach wastes time and money. A small amount of early phase due diligence is much more cost and time effective than lots of money invested in medium-to-late stage development.
What exactly does it do?
Our consultants are well versed in technology, markets and intellectual property. We bring in the appropriate expertise for each client’s needs to supply competitive intelligence and work together to develop innovation and strategy most likely to succeed.
Who is it for?
Our typical client is a vice president or director at a small to medium-sized technology, energy, transportation or consumer products company. Any company or institution can be a great fit, but only if they have a culture open to outside input.
What was the most challenging aspect of starting up?
Our challenges are similar to many other start-ups: too little time and forging new channels to bring in appropriate clients. Our business is so novel that it can take 20 minutes to educate a prospective client about what we do and how we can meet their needs.
What is the next step for you and your business?
Persuading satisfied clients to endorse our work publically. It is no surprise that many clients see a competitive advantage to keeping themselves and their companies anonymous.
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Make your plans, obtain your financing and network to establish relevant contacts as quickly as possible. Get as far down the road as possible before leaving your current position.
What resource have you found to be the most helpful and why?
Input from friends, colleagues and my network. Honest input from a friend beats 10 lost clients on any day.
POSTED BY HALL T. MARTIN AT 8:38 AM
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