How to get started - some FAQs
1) How do you select technologies on which you are willing to commit your time and money?
Answer : IHC looks for revolutionary technologies, in any early stage, with particular emphasis on information technology and physicaltechnologies. IHC does not normally venture into biotech or environmental sciences.
2) What is the definition of a suitable Early Stage Technology?Answer: An EST is one in which the inventor has discovered a way to divide the world into two parts AND one in which he can show us how we can participate in the ownership of one of the halves.
3) Why must an EST be early stage?
Answer: The earlier the stage, the better. The longer the inventor has already played with his idea or concept, the more likely he/she will have already done something that prejudices the project towards failure.
The start up process is one that has to be learned. It is not intuitive. There is no school anywhere we are aware of that teaches successful methods of “doing the impossible with the unavailable”.
Put far less diplomatically, unless you know exactly what to do and exactly what NOT to do, the odds of making fatal or near fatal errors are high on the first day an inventor tries to commercialize his invention.
Put even less diplomatically, the reasons an inventor invented something sometimes has goals that are at odds with making a profit.
At the risk of seeming coarse, we will save the whales, provided we can make money doing it. We are not a charity.
4) Isn’t Start Up management really a Question of Sufficient Funding?
Answer: Money solves only a few of the dozens of issues an EST faces.
Lack of resources is never the problem.
Lack of resourcefulness is always the problem.
5) What makes the Real Difference?
Answer: Knowledgeable start up management understands what is waiting downstream .. and knows further... that the moves you make in step one influence what the payout will be twenty steps from now. No sense doing something that seems smart or easy now, if you can’t get paid.
In EST, there are no short term solutions without long term consequences.
6) Can we get References?
Answer : Yes, if we like your idea.
7) In what form do we submit an idea?
Answer: We have attached a sheet of points to address - which we would like you to fill out and send in. The address to send it to is:
When we respond, we will tell you either that the proposed project is of no interest - and wish you well - or we will open a more intense dialogue.
8) Can I send in an idea that is not protected?
Answer : You are free to do whatever you wish.
Our strong recommendation is that you get a patent application on file before you contact us. You can safely contact us the day after you get the receipt from the PTO in your country.
9) Will you sign a Non Disclosure?
Answer: Yes, if we decide to proceed. We will usually not sign such an agreement unless we want to open a relationship, centered around some concept of yours.
You can proceed to disclose the idea to us before you are protected but we extend no warranty or representation that we are not all ready in that business or intend to get into it with someone else, now or in the future.
To repeat : With a patent app on file, you don’t need an NDA to introduce an idea.
10) Do you have a preference as to industry sectors?
Answer: Yes. We like
“Bites and Bytes” (Information technologies)
“Tools and Toys” (Physical things, optical, solar, etc)
We shy away from:
“Drugs and Bugs” (Biotech)
“Grime and Slime” (Environmental projects)
The dividing line between what we like to do and what we really don’t like to do is the intrusion of government agencies. We have no real interest in taking on a project where there are 15 years of government procedures to follow before you can bring a project to market.
11) What are the questions you want us to answer in the opening email? (And do I have to answer all of them?)
Answer: The more you answer, the better chance you have of us taking a serious look. Answer them as plainly and as fully as you can.
Question List:
-What is the Idea?
-What is the market for this Idea?
-Who owns this Idea?
-Who are all the Inventors?
-Where were you working when you invented this Idea?
-Why did you invent this idea?
-What is the Main Problem this Invention solves?
-What are peripheral benefits to using this invention?
-Do you have any obligations in regards to this invention?
-Have you filed for a patent Application (if so, where and when)
-Can we speak to your Patent Attorney first?
-How far have you tested your idea?
-Have you published the Idea or part of the Idea?
-To whom have you already offered this idea for Sale?
-Where has this idea been put into Public Use?
-What prototypes or proof of concept or beta do you have?
-What are your unpaid bills in regards to this invention?
12) What can I expect to own in a Company that your group directs?
Answer: Depends on what you will contribute to start with and what you can contribute from now on. An inventor who wants to sell his Idea only for shares in a new company and then leave it to us can expect less than someone who does that same thing and then works non stop through IP generation, prototyping, new iterations and new ideas.