Your Secret Weapon in IP Funding And Negotiations: Join Our March Webinar!
Daniel J. O'Connor
Consultant Principal @ The Inventors Academy | IP and Commercialisation Specialist
As an inventor or a research and development (R&D) team member, you might be grappling with the daunting challenges of securing funding and successfully commercializing your innovative projects. If so, you’re not alone. I’ve walked that path and experienced firsthand the hurdles of pitching to investors and navigating the complex landscape of intellectual property (IP).
In the early years of my career, from 1983 to 1987, I found myself in the trenches, pitching my first IP project to 30 to 50 prospective investors and licensees. Each meeting filled me with dread as I sought the necessary funding to bring my invention to market. Once I secured funding, the next challenge was distributing my project through established international companies.
Despite achieving significant growth, I faced the hard reality that I needed to sell my project before growth plateaued. During those four years, I learned valuable lessons that have informed my approach to innovation for the past 40 years.
The Turning Point: Understanding Investors’ Motivations
One of my most significant turning points was learning why investors want to get involved in IP projects. Contrary to what many assume, it isn’t solely about their potential returns on investment.
This revelation came during a project in 2014 and 2015, where my team and I were creating a coffee-table book for a UN Task Force. Through our research of successful inventors in developing economies, we gathered insights crucial to my subsequent pitches for funding, licensing, distribution, or trade sales.
This research revealed investors' underlying motivations, which I now refer to as “IP leverages," by interviewing all parties to the projects (including investors). Understanding these motivations became the foundation of every successful partnership pitch I've made since. This month, I’ll share these invaluable insights in a comprehensive Zoom webinar designed specifically for inventors and R&D teams.
What You’ll Learn in the Webinar
In this webinar, we’ll delve into the essential concepts and strategies that can empower you to secure the funding and partnerships you need. Here’s what you can expect:
Join Us for This Transformative Experience
This webinar is not just a presentation; it’s a collaborative learning experience designed to equip you with the tools you need to overcome the funding and commercialization hurdles you face. With my insights and your innovative ideas, we can unlock potential avenues for success.
In this session, we will introduce current case studies where we used these IP leverages to make the decision process easy. We will show how we stacked these leverages and priced them for the investor so that it took very little to understand that we had removed the commercial and financial risks.
Webinar Details:
- USA Session: March 18th, 7:00 PM (EST)?
- UK Session: March 19th, 8:00 AM (GMT)?
Don’t miss this opportunity to gain insights that could change the course of your innovation journey. Book your spot now to ensure you don’t miss out on this valuable Zoom session. Together, let’s turn your innovative ideas into successful ventures!
Book?HERE?to see these event times in your time zone.
Great perspective on IP as a leverage tool in funding and negotiations! The idea that investors aren’t solely driven by ROI but by IP leverage is a critical insight—one that’s often overlooked in conventional startup narratives. Yet, the reality goes even deeper: IP is not just a negotiation asset; it defines long-term control over market positioning. A strong patent portfolio doesn’t just attract investors—it dictates who holds the real power in scaling and market entry. The best technologies don’t always win; the best-protected ones do. That said, many inventors still underestimate the importance of structuring IP for strategic market dominance. Patents alone don’t create leverage—the interplay between scientific defensibility, market fit, and industrial adoption does. Benjamin, Anita, Joachim Curious to hear other perspectives: Do you see IP more as a financial asset or as a mechanism to shape technological ecosystems? ??