Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 2 of a series)

Start the new year with the hopefulness of a true optimist. If you are not naturally inclined to optimism, pretend to be. Maybe it will grow on you.

Speaking of optimism, no one can be more hopeful than someone starting a new venture. To realize their vision, these people will need to find outside finance.

Anyone involved in venture capital or its variants (see previous post: Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 1 of a series) is interested in identifying potential candidates for investment opportunity.

Finding these candidates is not easy. But a place to start on startups is to see what companies other venture capital firms have identified.

Caveat … I am not an expert in venture capital or in identifying startups. However, I am pretty good at online research. So what I offer in this series of posts is a way to streamline your online research to obtain results that are most useful to you.

For example, using the Google® search string …

venture capital oil gas

… I found, among other things …

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List of Top Oil and Gas Private Equity Firms
Because of the specialized nature of the upstream, midstream and downstream segments, potential investors often address the need to understand potential risks by being familiar with the ins and outs of the industry. A lack of specialized knowledge can create barriers to entry for would-be investors.
Oilfield services companies follow the more traditional private equity model of acquisition of controlling stakes in target companies. These companies typically attract generalist Private Equity firms looking to get into the oil and gas space.
Some large, diversified investment companies have divisions dedicated to energy (including oil and gas, power, alternative energy and other businesses). Other firms concentrate on oil and gas. Investment in oil and gas companies can require specialized industry knowledge.
Major players in the Private Equity space such as The Carlyle Group, Blackstone and others continue to shore up their investment in the oil and gas industry, but this list focuses on energy-specific investment firms.
ArcLight
Bayou City Energy
Blue Tip Energy
Blue Water Energy
BlueRock Energy Partners
Chiron Financial
CSG Investments, Inc.
Denham Capital
EnCap
Energy Trust Partners
First Reserve
Five States Energy Capital
Intervale Capital
Kayne Anderson
Kimmeridge Energy
Lime Rock Management
Natural Gas Partners
Old Ironsides Energy
Parallel Resources Partners
Pearl Energy Investments
Petro Capital Securities
PetroCap
Pine Brook Partners
Post Oak Energy Capital
Quantum Energy Partners
Riverstone Holdings
Sage Road Capital
Scout Energy Partners
Talara Capital Management
White Deer Energy
source: https://www.sprioilgas.com/blog/list-of-top-oil-and-gas-private-equity-firms
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TIP: Google® venture capital [your field of interest]. If you’re lucky, you will find a list of venture capital firms interested in the same field.

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Starting Down the Startup Path: TOC – Table of Contents
If you enjoyed this post, you might like some of the others in this series. Here is a convenient way to find them.
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Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 1 of a series)
How do you find emerging technology? One way is to focus on startups.
OK, fine, but how do you discover the startups that offer a technology of interest to you? One way is to focus on venture capital firms that focus on the areas of interest to you.
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2019/12/starting-down-startup-path-part-1-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 2 of a series)
Anyone involved in venture capital or its variants is interested in identifying potential candidates for investment opportunity. Finding these candidates is not easy. But a place to start on startups is to see what companies other venture capital firms have identified.
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2019/12/starting-down-startup-path-part-2-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 3 of a series)
Panning for Google® gold: startups with promising new technologies
The previous post in this series featured the List of Top Oil and Gas Private Equity Firms discovered as the result of a Google® search. The list focuses on companies pursuing acquisition and development of existing resources. While the list will be useful to many, this series of posts focuses on techniques you can use to identify startups with promising new technologies.
So, on to the next step in the quest to find new technology on the cusp of successful deployment.
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/01/starting-down-startup-path-part-3-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 4 of a series)
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained: Follow the Lead of the Oil Majors
How do you identify startups that fit your corporate goals? One way is to set up and advertise a venture capital unit, which enables young companies to pitch their technology to your corporation.
And that is just what several oil majors have done.
Studying their portfolios can provide a wealth of helpful information, whether you are a venture capitalist, a startup, or simply interested in identifying emerging technology.
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/01/starting-down-startup-path-part-4-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 5 of a series): Searching Patents
Patents: Emerging Tech
Patents are a rich source of cutting-edge research. And much of the research reported in patents never appears in peer reviewed journals. So, to identify emerging technology in your field, consider searching the patent literature on a regular basis.
TIP: Read Tips for reading patents: a concise introduction for scientists for an excellent overview on this topic.
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/02/start-up-startdown-path-parti-5-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 6 of a series): Reviewing Patents
Searching for patents is iterative. You type in some keywords. Results reveal more keywords. You type in those keywords. And repeat.
This can be really tedious, irksome even. Sometimes it is hard to figure out whether a given patent is even relevant to your needs.
Fortunately, a number of experts have offered tips to make it easier to read a patent quickly.
TIP: Google® how to read a patent for more tips on efficient ways to review a patent
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/03/starting-down-startup-path-part-6-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 7 of a series): Patents and Run On Sentences
Per USPO rules, the Claims in a patent must be stated in a single sentence. In many cases, the “single sentence” can be, thanks to colons, commas, semicolons, et al., several hundred words long.
But remember that, as difficult as it may be to wrap your head around any given claim, it still is faster than reading the whole patent.
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/03/starting-down-startup-path-part-7-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 8 of a series): Mining Patents for Keywords
Mining patents for useful information can be tedious. One thing you can do is to look for keywords to use in Google® searches. For example, in a previous post I listed a Breakthrough Technologies LLC patent with the following claim …
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/03/starting-down-startup-path-part-8-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 9 of a series): PTQ Catalysis 2020
PTQ Catalysis 2020 is ready to view at www.eptq.com. As always, it is rich in useful information. In the context of our Startdown the Startup Path series of posts, one article in particular caught my eye …
Pilot plant studies of hydrotreating catalysts
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/03/starting-down-startup-path-part-9-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 10 of a series): The Bigness of Machine Learning
Big data is a big deal. We humans generate so much data that our puny brains are unable to process it. So we have created machines to do that for us.
There is a whole discipline called machine learning designed to train these machines to process massive amounts of data in useful ways.
“Machine learning,” as Serdar Yegulalp notes in an InfoWorld article, “is a complex discipline. But implementing machine learning models is far less daunting and difficult than it used to be, thanks to machine learning frameworks—such as Google’s TensorFlow—that ease the process of acquiring data, training models, serving predictions, and refining future results.”
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/03/starting-down-startup-path-part-10-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 11 of a series): Thread the Needle
In a horse race, the goal is to bet on the winning horse. Common sense tells us that if we knew for a certainty which horse would win the race, racing them would be pointless. The same logic applies to new technologies, and the companies that create them.
That’s why it can be useful to look at companies that have been examined by investment funds like the Columbia Seligman Communications and Information Fund.
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/04/starting-down-startup-path-part-11-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 12 of a series): Patent Prior Art Search
Prior Art Search: Everything you need to know
If you’re looking to understand everything about prior art search, you’ve landed on the right page. By the time you finish reading this guide, you’ll likely have built a solid understanding of what can be included in the prior art, how you can use this knowledge to conduct a patent search all by yourself and avoid spending valuable resources on the non-patentable subject matter.
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/04/starting-down-startup-path-part-12-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 13 of a series) Dibenzothiophene Patents 2020
What’s the quickest way to determine if a patent is of interest to you? Depends on your purpose. This tip sheet may help you decide which section of a patent to focus on.
Read full post at:
https://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/05/starting-down-startup-path-part-13-of.html

Starting Down the Startup Path (Part 14 of a series)-Google Patents Find Prior Art Link
Patent research is important in any area of research you are engaged in ... especially if you are a startup, or are considering investing in a startup.
Prior art is an important concept in patent research.
In this regard, Google® Patents Prior Art Link is useful. When you find a patent of interest, in the upper right of the screen you will find a link labeled Prior Art.
Read full post at:
http://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/05/starting-down-startup-path-part-14-of.html

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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Services, Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/  for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at research@jeansteinhardtconsulting.com  with questions on research, training, or anything else
Visit Jean’s Web site at http://www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com/  to see examples of the services we can provide

The Top 10 Desulfurization Posts for 2019

My goal in every item posted to the Desulfurization Blog is to help you use Google® and all its online research services to maximum advantage.

So at the end of each year I take a look at the posts that seem to have been most helpful, based on the number of views, in order to determine how to craft future posts.

The Top 10 Posts for 2019 were …

Technology in Action – PTQ Style
Conference Alert & Call for Papers: IRPC Americas (International Refining and Petrochemical Conference)
Be Strategic – Go to Kuwait
Creating the refinery of the future - Hydrocarbon Engineering March 2019
I Love It When a Plan Comes Together: 2019 Conferences
SINOPEC and IMO
Tech Briefs Wants You to Create the Future
Cheating Google®: Google® Cheat Sheets Can Save You Time
Quest, the Series: How to Plan Your Online Research – The Goldilocks Rule (Part 3)
What is digitalization? As with so many buzz words, it depends on who you ask

A number of the most popular posts were conference alerts. This makes sense. There is no better way to build and maintain your network than by attending conferences in your field of interest.

At the top of the list is Technology in Action – PTQ Style. Every article in PTQ-Petroleum Technology Quarterly (www.eptq.com) is well written and illustrated. Equally useful is the magazine’s section they call Technology in Action. It offers a few paragraphs on technology solutions to specific problems that may (or may not) be worth pursuing. At the end of each item is contact information for the company offering the solution.

Each Desulfurization blog post includes TIPS on how to make your Google® searches more productive. Click on any of the links in the Top 10 to read the complete post. Even better, visit www.desulf.blogspot.com on a regular basis. Make that effort one of your Top 10 New Years Resolutions.

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Google® Better!
Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Services, Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/  for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at research@jeansteinhardtconsulting.com  with questions on research, training, or anything else
Visit Jean’s Web site at http://www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com/  to see examples of the services we can provide