25 karma · joined May 5, 2015
under-relax, converge real slowly
over-over-relax, oscillate
just-right-over-relax, get fast convergence
The dot-com bust and post-9/11 biz environment were not friendly to most startups and not friendly to big hard-to-implement ideas, and the startup company was rescued in 2002 or 2003 by a sideline project (largely not using the IP in the patents) in which a large I.T./storage company saw value. The large company acquired the startup.
The 10 patent applications, in the mean time, were not maintained or perhaps not novel enough to all merit patents -- though I doubt the "not novel enough" part -- I've seen stupid patents awarded for much less innovation, and I haven't yet seen the system the patents deal with implemented or sold. So ... I think there's huge value in the ideas behind the patent applications. The patent applications all lapsed around 2007 or before, I believe because they were peripheral to large company's business and nobody realized what they had in hand.
The ideas and system behind the patents only grow more relevant each passing year.
So what I see right now:
* an idea-kernel that would be the excellent
basis for a new startup
* good documented prior-art (in the form of the
lapsed patent applications) that probably are
decent enough to defend against patent trolls
* I'm at the point in my professional career
where I want to pursue these ideas
* >>> the fact that if I were any other person,
with no prior association with the former
startup or acquiring large company, coming
across these lapsed patents, I could implement
them unencumbered and have good protection
(though I could not prevent others from
implementing the same)
* >>> since I worked on the original IP ...
I might have some obligation to the "acquiring
large company", though they likely would care
only if I were to (a) be extremely successful;
or (b) use the lapsed patent applications as
defense in a patent lawsuit
... but my inclination is to:
* build a prototype
* talk to potential investors and potential customers
* engage a patent lawyer to discuss possible
licensing arrangements (or outright permission)
to work on the I.P. with "large acquiring co"
* hope for the best
The place had so many dysfunctions I'd not know how to start. I work for a much more professional outfit now with true appreciation for security and competence.
edit: there's a real gap in this non-glamorous compliance domain. if you address it and need to execute SCAP (OVAL, XCCDF) content, look to a very competent scanner vendor, jOVAL. The real challenges are in organizing and presenting consistent info across many compliance standards, OSs, cloud vendors, etc. ... and to scan entities that aren't OSs per se, and to analyze cross-domain conditions.
20+ years experience. Working remote from southeast U.S.A.
Tenure so far: 2.5 years
Salary: $150K
Stock: purportedly .75% of company 4 years 1-year cliff, with small follow-on grant later, don't know what recent dilution is, though I think more recent funding has been "debt" at low interest with preference
Not a regular VC situation, company funded through other means.
Outlook -- real uncertain, market has definite need, execution so far has been very mixed, company willing to re-do things the right way
Tenure so far: 2.5 years
Salary: $150K
Stock: purportedly .75% of company 4 years 1-year cliff, with small follow-on grant later, don't know what recent dilution is, though I think more recent funding has been "debt" at low interest with preference
Not a regular VC situation, company funded through other means.
Outlook -- real uncertain, market has definite need, execution so far has been very mixed, company willing to re-do things the right way
The current company is legacy-land as far as development tools goes (though they're reliable and in the right hands do very well). The prospective startup would involve new tools I need to "keep up-to-date".
I did a short (paid) project for them involving some popular scripting significantly-hipper-than-Perl language and delivered it in serviceable, idiomatic form that I know they were very happy with, using all the right libraries. I picked it up the tool/language quickly enough. I feel I need that experience and exposure to maintain my longevity in the SW market. Sticking with the current company is 2 more years I become more of a dinosaur.
This current company has a highly dysfunctional development culture, no automated testing, poor choice of deployment vehicle, a VP high on the DK spectrum. I can't bear it.
The place has a very high likelihood of acquisition in the next 2 years. It's a question of how long product dev can go on before the product implodes vs how quickly the shiny CEO can attract a good buyer for the polished turd. I lose a bit of my soul every day.