I’m not sure of the practical benefits of such a device or the market, but it’s very cool. If I could find a way to sneak it past our accounting system, we’ll order it.
World’s First Manned Flight with an Electric Multicopter.
November 2, 2011
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Clean Tech, future trends, yet2.com, yet2Ventures | Tagged: helicopter;, innovation, open innovation, yet2.com, yet2ventures | 
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yet2ventures Speaks at Forum for Consumer Product Entripeneurs
July 4, 2011I had the pleasure of speaking at a forum for consumer product entrepreneurs 2 weeks ago in Radnor PA. It was hosted by Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz LLP, who did a great job connecting a rooms full of entrepreneurs with venture capitalists – tough to do in this climate. It was great to see a law firm take such a leadership role in facilitating these kinds of connections.
A few key learnings?:
- There is a lot less money chasing fewer consumer product start ups. The West Coast VC bubble has not hit Philly yet
- The VC’s have a high regard for sector knowledge/Rolodex, and basic ‘blocking and tackling’
- Entrepreneurs are still not taking advantage of the Open Innovation offices in most major companies (these are your internal evangelists)
Here is a edited summary:
Leave a Comment » | future trends, open innovation, Venture capital, yet2.com, yet2Ventures | Tagged: Ben duPont, Consumer Products, DSM, Ganeden Biotech, open innovation, P&G, technology scouting, Watermark Medical, yet2.com, yet2ventures | Permalink
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yet2.com’s 11th Annual Open Innovation Conference
June 17, 2011We hosted our 11th annual Open Innovation conference in Boston 2 weeks ago. It was a huge success. We talked about; trends in innovation and best practices. A few large companies presented their learnings and plans, a few small companies presented their breakthrough technologies and we had a few case studies…..and a personal favorite – we ate lobster.
In total, we had executives from 3 Continents, with a large group from Japan. Some of the companies participating included; Canon, P&G, Agfa, AirProducts, Applied Materials, AveryDennison, Baxter, Bayer, Clorox, Colgate, DuPont, Ecolab, GSK, Kimberly-Clark, J&J, Kisco, Mellon, Nissan, Panasonic, Parker Hannifin, P&G, Ricoh, Sony, DSM, Invista and NASA! Add to this, we had 2 dozen selected small companies, with breakthrough technologies.
I liked the robust Q&A after each presentation. When Canon’s CTO, Dr. Ikoma-san, presented, 4 other CTOs asked questions. You cant beat that. Some themes that emerged
- Be ready for disruptive innovation from the bottom of the pyramid
- Regional R&D, with Global Sourcing
- Squash the immune response – accept ‘fuzzy data’
- Enable personal risk taking
- Engage ‘Renewal Searches’ – at the middle and the end of R&D
We spent a lot of time discussing how to optimize deals between large and small companies. This has been a reoccurring theme are our events. Even when there is a great technology fit, deals take more time than both parties would like. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Clean Tech, future trends, open innovation, yet2.com, yet2Ventures | Tagged: Canon, Clorox, Colgate Palmolive, DSM, Ecolab, future trends, lobster, NASA, Nissan, open innovation, P&G, technology scouting, Wikinomics, yet2.com, yet2ventures | Permalink
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Failure
May 26, 2011I love failure. I have to. Been doing it all my life. Which is why this video from Kathryn Schulz hit home.
I think she is correct, when she implies that the secret to success is a higher tolerance for failure and low tolerance for not trying again…and for not achieving ultimate success.
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Delaware Corporations – LLC Filings up to 82,027
May 9, 2011Delaware has an impressive Chancery court, that has written most modern US corporation case law. Last year, 76% of the IPOs were incorporated in Delaware. Which is a key reason why 63% of the Fortune 500 are registered here.
I spent some time poking around the Delaware Division of Corporations website. What I did not expect to find is leading indicators of economic recovery in the Annual Report. LLC filings are up to 82,000, from 70,000 in ’09 and 81,923 in ’08. This has good to be good news for economic recovery?
Leave a Comment » | future trends, open innovation, Venture capital, yet2.com, yet2Ventures | Tagged: Delaware, innovation, LLC, open innovation, patent litigation, yet2.com, yet2ventures | Permalink
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SEC Considering Adopting Crowd-funding Rules
May 3, 2011I wrote a blog about Crowdfunding back in November (http://wp.me/pxRjC-kq).This article was Taken from Venture Beat and written by Dean Takahashi
The Securities and Exchange Commission may adopt rules to let internet-age technologies be used in fund-raising.
The agency is considering whether to let fast-growing companies use social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to raise funding by tapping thousands of investors for small amounts of money, the Wall Street Journal reported. Read the rest of this entry »
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Q1 Venture Capital Results
April 25, 2011Venture investments in Q1 2011 increased by $1 billion over Q4 2010 to $7.5 billion. The increase was driven by an increase in investments in Internet and cleantech-renewable energy startups, according to CB Insights.
This was a 25% increase in the number of dollars invested over the same period last year. The money was spread of 738 deal, which is approximately the same as last year.
This represents a return to the pre-recession levels. The CB Insights “left it to others to decide whether that represents a return to normalcy or an untenable VC investment bubble.”
1 Comment | commentary, news release, Venture capital, yet2.com, yet2Ventures | Tagged: Ben duPont, Investments, open innovation, VC, VC Bubble, venture capital, yet2.com, yet2ventures | Permalink
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Our Future – Through the Eyes of Corning
April 12, 2011I love thought provoking renditions of what the future might be like. This is a good example of how material science (and Corning) will likely play a role in our future – Ben
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Driving a Successful Exit
March 29, 2011Over the past 10 years, yet2 has facilitated hundreds of transactions with the Fortune 500, on 3 continents. Most of these have been between successful start ups and a large multinationals, and they cover a wide range of technology. While each transactions is different, I thought I’d share a few navigational insights to help successful start-ups drive an exit or form a partnership.
The first thing to understand is that large companies rarely act with one voice. While they try to, they don’t. They are a collection of individuals each with motivations and fears. Most of employees of these firms have 3 questions in mind, 1) How can I represent my company well? 2) Will this help get me promoted? 3) Will this minimize the chance for me to get fired?
Usually, it’s in the best interest of the LargeCo to delay and do more diligence or testing. Unless they are about to lose the opportunity, they have every motivation to ‘do one more test’. More testing and diligence helps prevent the decision-makers from getting fired. In this sense, Large companies may be price agnostic, meaning they would much rather pay $200 million for a technology they know works, than $5 million for one that ‘needs fixing’. This is how to get promoted, and not fired. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | open innovation, Venture capital, yet2.com, yet2Ventures | Tagged: open innovation, technology scouting, yet2.com, yet2ventures | Permalink
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A Trip of a Lifetime
August 5, 20113 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage… all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ….into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films…..
= a trip of a lifetime.
move, eat, learn
Rick Mereki : Director, producer, additional camera and editing
Tim White : DOP, producer, primary editing, sound
Andrew Lees : Actor, mover, groover