Efrat Kaznik’s Lecture – Summary and Highlights
In class, I really enjoyed
the guest lecturer Efrat Kaznik’s lecture on IP strategy because I think that
IP is definitely playing a bigger part in company’s valuation
Efrat mentioned that intangible
assets account for more and more of a company’s core competitive advantage –
this can be in the form of goodwill, great company morale, etc.
My favorite part was when she
talked about about the white space analysis. It makes a lot of sense that you
have to identify the areas that are already saturated with a lot of competitors
before jumping in to value a company’s intangible assets and IP. It was a great
visual to see which technological areas are saturated and which ones are not.
I also really appreciated
how she talked about the various deals that went on concerning acquisition of
patent portfolios. For example, Microsoft paid 1.06 billion for AOL patents and
125 apps. Acquiring patent portfolios has become very strategic for large
companies to stay on top of litigation and to avoid lawsuits. Patents can also
increase revenue stream. The XEROX PARC center lost about half a billion
potential revenue from not filing the patent for GUI (graphical user interface)
which was later copied by Mac and Windows.
Finally, I really
appreciated how the guest speaker is the head of Foresight Valuation Group. I
will be a valuation analyst after I graduate, and I don’t know a lot of people
going into valuation. It was nice to hear about a leading expert in the field
that I am about to go into, although I am not doing so much IP valuation but
more mainstream valuation.
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a nice recap of the lecturer! Good luck with your future career. It sounds really exciting.
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteThanks for talking about what you feel were the important highlights of Kasznik's talk - it really helps hearing what other people thought was important and why. I agree with your inclusion of Xerox - I thought that was a standout example to me as well and a good example of a company that did not patent a novel technology, thinking it had no utility to them. As a small suggestion, it could be cool to include how this might apply to a hypothetical student. I'd love to hear your insight. Thanks!
Hey Sean,
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to hear what ideas and concepts will peak someones interest the most and why. I did not remember Efrat's discussion on white space analysis and you provided a good summary and example. I understand your appreciation for Efrat's work and her company as it is something you will be working in as well. Thanks for sharing what you appreciated about her talk and explaining why. Nice work!
Really great article. I liked how you focused on a number of parts of her lecture, instead of just one, and described the value you gained from each aspect. Good catch about her career in valuation. I actually barely know anyone in the field as well.
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