Green Eggs and Spit

"Would you, could you, spit in a tube?
I would not, could not, spit in a tube."
- Guy Kawasaki (paraphrased)

I just finished reading Guy's summary of the 23andme Spit Party. It sounded interesting, and kinda gross, at the same time. I guess alcohol has no impact on DNA mapping...

If you don't already know about 23andme, I'll let their marketing department explain:

"Welcome to 23andMe, a web-based service that helps you read and understand your DNA. After providing a saliva sample using an at-home kit, you can use our interactive tools to shed new light on your distant ancestors, your close family and most of all, yourself."

Basically, they claim to be the world's first Personal Genome Service -- at $1,000 a pop.

That price will come down as mapping technologies improve and more services enter the market, but my question is deeper than price. You see, Guy didn't spit. I'm one of the earliest adopters of tech you can find, but I'm not sure I would have spit -- even if it was free (Actually, I probably would spit for free, but it would still take a bit of thinking.)

So, my question, would you spit for a free service that would map your DNA and report your genetic tendencies -- given that the tools to change any of those genes don't yet exist? Would it be worth knowing things that you cannot change? Would it be worth opening the door to insurance inquiries around your DNA? Does it matter to you that Google invested -- talk about personalized search? Would you let your kids spit and why/why not?

Personally, I think personal genomic testing will be commonplace in the future. In fact, I'll probably find myself saying:

"I do so like
spitting in a tube!
Thank you!
Thank you!
Guy-you-DNA-nube!"

So why hesitate now?

Related posts:

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/11/23andme-party.html
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/17/23andme-evil-or-the-way-of-the-future/
http://www.palidwor.com/blog/?p=63
http://thegenesherpa.blogspot.com/2007/11/not-with-bangthe-death-of-personalized.html
http://blog.vortexdna.com/dna-genes-and-who-we-really-are/
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/17/us/17dna.html
Related images: 23andme, spit party, guy kawasaki, human genome, genomic testing

An Inventor's Quick-Start Guide to Patenting Your Invention

I always like those Quick-Start Guides you get with a new computer or software. I learn what I need from one or two pages, and rarely ever read the full instruction manual -- I learn best by doing.

This Guest Post follows the same principle. Inventor, Mona Singh, has learned by doing with over 50 patents filed and was kind enough to share an inventor's perspective on the decision to patent and the drafting process.

To Patent or not to Patent, that is the question
by Mona Singh, Ph.D.

Over the years I have run across a large number of entrepreneurs and the one thing that’s common among all of them is their passion for their idea. The passion sometimes translates into an urge to patent the idea. And inevitably, as soon as the word patent is uttered the focus shifts to finding a patent lawyer and the money to pay them.

More often than not the question of a provisional patent comes up to muddy the waters.

Having been in several situations centered around patenting and having been the inventor of over 50 patent filings I finally have some opinions and lessons to share.

Do some research: The first piece of advice I have for entrepreneurs with great ideas is to do a thorough search on the USPTO patents database (www.uspto.gov). Keep searching till you find at least one patent that comes really close to your idea. If you find nothing then you need to modify your search. Make sure you have searched both the issued and published patent databases.

Write your own claim: this will help you figure out what your invention really is about. You may have a very broad concept in your head at this point but you need to convert that into a specific method. I did not realize this for a really long time.

Patent attorneys will take what you give them and create a claim for what *they* think is patentable – that may not be very close to what you think your core invention is. You as the inventor need to be able to point out exactly what is novel and non-obvious about your idea, and why. Remember *you* are the subject matter expert!

Be the devil’s advocate: Spend some time (read that as a lot of time) thinking about all the ways that someone can get around that method. Refine your claim. If you can't do that, get a friend to try and pull it apart. Look for prior art that kills your idea! Make sure you don't get emotionally attached to it. Remember, there are always more where your current idea came from; chances are your next idea will be better than this one.

Create a business justification for yourself: Ask yourself your business goals are for getting a patent. Remember that after 18 months all filed patents are published on the USPTO site. So in a sense, your competitors will have more insight into your idea. Do you really want that? A lot of companies (e.g., Google) don’t patent the methods they want to protect the most.

How will you be able to tell if someone is infringing on your patent?

Get a prior-art search done: Once you have the main claim down and you are convinced that you do want to patent your idea, get a professional search firm to do a prior-art search. Some firms also do a patentability analysis. A number of these search companies are run by ex-Examiners. The results they produce are usually quite valuable. When you see the results, you should refine and expand on your original claim.

Find a Patent Attorney: When *you* are totally convinced that your idea is novel, valuable, and if someone infringes on it you will be able to detect it, that’s when you a ready for a patent filing. The value of provisional patents is arguable. A patent attorney will charge about the same amount for a provisional as for a utility (real) patent filing. So, it is better to get a utility patent.

Read the draft: So, you find a good patent attorney and he sends you this draft that is full of legal language and looks really overwhelming. You are obviously busy with everything else that relates to your business. Well, no excuse is good enough! You have to go through the draft with a fine-toothed comb. Make sure the claims are not too broad and not too narrow. Question the choice of words in the claims. Make sure you have properly “enabled” the invention – that is, figured a way to implement it. The enablement should be precise enough that if someone were to build what you are patenting they will be able to do so without experimentation.

Once the patent has been filed, you’re patent pending!

Related images: patent, patent images, patent drawings, patent process

Florida Statewide Business Plan Competition

Last week I had the pleasure of judging the Sunshine State Venture Challenge -- Florida's only statewide business plan competition. There were two tracks of presenters: Limited Investment and Investment Intensive (my track). Like last year, the event was well-run and a value to participants and judges alike. Among many I enjoyed meeting, it was great seeing a couple fellow bloggers as judges: Robert Hacker of Sophisticated Finance and Chuck Papageorgiou of The Operator's Blog.

Winners for the two tracks were ToneRite (auto-tuning/aging for string instruments) for Limited Investment and ReDesigningWomen (community/support site for divorced women) for Investment Intensive. For my track, it was a tough decision, but RDW's entrepreneur combined a strong marketing background with a focused, niche strategy to serve a valuable set of customers.

I was lucky enough to recruit my favorite presenter last year to join one of my portfolio companies. As such, I was on the lookout for my favorite presenter this year. Even though she didn't win the bizplan competition, I wanted to offer a golden Kangarua for "Best Presenter" to Erica Courtney of Biodiversity & Co. Congrats Erica, the competition winners and all participating finalists. I look forward to watching your businesses grow across the state and nationwide...

That Just Happened -- SocialSpark that is...

"What does that do, does that blow your mind? That just happened!"

~ Ricky Bobby

That is IZEA's announcement today of SocialSpark.com (codenamed Argus) -- the future of online advertising. Ricky Bobby's quote to Jean Girard kept running through my head as I watched Ted and Pete demo the world's first advertiser social network, complete with first-of-its kind face-based analytics, advertiser-blogger friending and feedback, multi-dimensional social media advertising, and ROI-focused reporting and tracking.

I can't believe how much stuff is in SocialSpark. What I can believe is that the platform brings value to every publisher and every advertiser who cares about social media. Every blogger in the world can gain value from SocialSpark's face-based analytics, regardless of their plans around monetization. Every advertiser in the world can gain value from SocialSpark's blogger search and demographic-based targeting to kickstart and/or manage their social media relationships.

Imagine, as a blogger, being able to contact any brand of interest to share feedback and your interest in their products. Imagine, as an advertiser, being able to measure brand and direct marketing across multiple domains (e.g. not just Facebook, MySpace or others) with real-time reporting on current ROI and expected ROI as conversations builds across the net. There simply hasn't been anything like this, and I'm not even spilling the beans on RealRank and ROIRank -- measurements of true value and influence.

Shake-and-bake baby, shake-and-bake!

Related posts:
http://www.jimkukral.com/exclusive-first-look-at-socialspark-formerly-payperpost-a-social-network-for-advertisers-publishers/
http://mythoughtsideasandramblings.com/2007/11/10/socialspark/
http://bloggertrail.com/blogging/exclusive-first-look-at-socialspark-formerly-payperpost-a-%E2%80%9Csocial-network%E2%80%9D-for-advertisers-publishers-8/
http://www.crashutah.com/blog/juanchito/2007/11/10/payperpost-izea-announces-socialspark/
http://www.imbloggingthat.com/?p=496
http://www.simplekindoflife.com/2007/11/10/postiecon-news-argus-socialspark-debut/
http://www.chatbugkaren.com/2007/11/10/socialspark/
http://www.scribbleonthewall.com/2007/11/10/if-youre-not-in-vegas/
http://bizmarktech.com/blog/2007/11/10/business-has-a-new-spark-with-socialspark/
http://www.gamblingtodayonline.com/liveblogging-announcement-of-socialspark-argus-at-postiecon/
http://www.googleisnotgod.com/2007/11/socialspark-will-crush-google-for-paid.html
http://brokenperfection.com/blog/?p=467
http://mashable.com/2007/11/10/izea-releases-socialspark/
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/10/payperposts-latest-gimmick-socialspark/
http://andybeard.eu/2007/11/socialspark.html

Vegas Map for BlogWorld, PostieCon and BloggersChoiceAwards

While planning my IZEA trip to BlogWorld/PostieCon I created a map of key locations such as the Hard Rock, Las Vegas Convention Center, Tao, Bellagio and others. The current zoom level allows you to see all the points of interest, but it's more fun when you zoom in -- for example, check out how clearly you can see the Bellagio fountains. I'm not sure how much collaborative mapping Google provides so if you'd like a relevant location added to the map, just leave it in the comments. I hope to see you there!

View Larger Map

Related images: hard rock, las vegas convention center, tao, bellagio, the kite runner, izea