Starting Down the Startup Path: Recap

Identifying emerging technology is largely about identifying people and young companies that are creating that technology. The Starting Down the Startup Path series of posts is designed to help you do just that.

This post recaps the 14 posts in the series. Each item in the list that follows includes a brief description of the post, with a link to the complete post.

///////
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.
So, how do you do that?
During signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Benjamin Franklin said, "we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we will all hang separately"
Well, hang in there, my friend. This is the first in a series of posts that will help.
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)
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.
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.
The same Google® search that resulted in the List of Top Oil and Gas Private Equity Firms, also listed a number of other links worth pursuing.
Today’s TIP: Browse for Google® gold, and pan for treasure.
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
Large corporations, including the oil majors, have begun supplementing inhouse R&D (Research & Development) with investment in innovative startups.
TIP: READ, for example, the following article …
Financing R&D and Innovation / B. H. Hall and J. Lerner – August 2009
Free full text source: https://eml.berkeley.edu/~bhhall/papers/HallLerner09_rndfin_chapter_draft.pdf ]
But how to 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.
Now, while searching for relevant patents can be challenging, reading them can be even more so.
Accordingly, I have divided this topic into several posts.
The first offers tips on how to use keywords for effective searching.
The second suggests ways to read the results of your patent research in the most time efficient manner possible.
Finally, I offer a case study to illustrate the process of searching for and reading patents in a particular area.
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
One excellent result …
Tips for reading patents: a concise introduction for scientists
Here a few other results from that search …
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
Patents can drive English majors to crazyville.
A previous post in the Startup series cited a source that noted that, 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.
For example, a Google® search for dibenzothiophene resulted in the following patents. The heart of each patent is cited in the claims section. Note how long each claim is. 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 to Startup series of posts, one article in particular caught my eye …
Pilot plant studies of hydrotreating catalysts
Tiago Vilela, Graham Ormsby, José Castro And Hendrik Dathe (Avantium)
Andrew Michael Lee Gibbs And Mary Ann Abney (Ergon)
Paul Robinson (Independent Consultant)
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.”
Yegulalp describes TensorFlow as open source software that “allows developers to create dataflow graphs—structures that describe how data moves through a graph, or a series of processing nodes. Each node in the graph represents a mathematical operation, and each connection or edge between nodes is a multidimensional data array, or tensor.
“TensorFlow provides all of this for the programmer by way of the Python language. Python is easy to learn and work with, and provides convenient ways to express how high-level abstractions can be coupled together. Nodes and tensors in TensorFlow are Python objects, and TensorFlow applications are themselves Python applications.
“The actual math operations, however, are not performed in Python. The libraries of transformations that are available through TensorFlow are written as high-performance C++ binaries. Python just directs traffic between the pieces, and provides high-level programming abstractions to hook them together.”
Read the full article at: https://www.infoworld.com/article/3278008/what-is-tensorflow-the-machine-learning-library-explained.html
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
“If you are looking for a needle in a haystack, and somebody has already cataloged all the straw in the haystack, when you get to that needle you will recognize it's different than what was supposed to be there based on all that computerized haystack information that had been predetermined for you.” -- Francis Collins
TIP: Iterate, and then reiterate
I have a client who wants to identify companies that have created a technology that is novel, has been commercialized, and has not yet been discovered. Well, as we say in Texas, that dog don’t hunt.
By definition, a commercialized product has been discovered by somebody. However, just because a technology has been discovered does not mean it is a winner.
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.
Paul Wick, Head of the Seligman Technology Group, Columbia Seligman Communications and Information Fund, explains this concept in the following Q&A.
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.
A previous post (http://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/03/starting-down-startup-path-part-6-of.html) offers tips on how to quickly review patents to find those that fill your research needs.
The authors agree that the patent abstract is not that useful. They differ as to whether the CLAIMS section or the SUMMARY section is most useful.
Now, I am by no means an expert in patent searching. But I think it depends on your purpose. For those of you considering filing a new patent, or disputing an existing patent, the CLAIMS section may be your first stop.
For science researchers trying to determine their next steps, the SUMMARY section may be the better choice.
So, for fun, I searched for patents using the Google® search term DIBENZOTHIOPHENE. I extracted the Abstract, Claims, and Summary of several of the search results. They are reproduced below, so you can see how the three patent sections compare.
Maybe it will help you decide what to focus on as you conduct your patent search.
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

///////

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