Ask HN: Paid pilots/licensing deals in hard-tech startups? Good/Bad idea?
Hi
We have a B2B IoT startup that uses hardware technology (straight from the lab) that has been approached by companies for paid pilots and licensing.
Ideally we would like to sell a product that uses the technology, but it is hardware and more capital intensive and licensing seems like a low cost/high reward way of making $. But we run the risk of the strategic partner learning the know-how risking future royalties. Also I’ve been told that investors don’t like to invest in companies that license their technology – not sure why?
Curious if anyone has thoughts on what to watch out for when it comes to working with strategic partners particularly with regards to licensing or paid pilots.
We have a B2B IoT startup that uses hardware technology (straight from the lab) that has been approached by companies for paid pilots and licensing.
Ideally we would like to sell a product that uses the technology, but it is hardware and more capital intensive and licensing seems like a low cost/high reward way of making $. But we run the risk of the strategic partner learning the know-how risking future royalties. Also I’ve been told that investors don’t like to invest in companies that license their technology – not sure why?
Curious if anyone has thoughts on what to watch out for when it comes to working with strategic partners particularly with regards to licensing or paid pilots.