This could (literally) be a million-dollar question.
After all, everything starts with an idea. Facebook, Google, Tesla cars, vaccines, Harry Potter, the Kindle, the iPhone, Nike, everything started with an idea.
Today AI automation ideas, in particular, are more valuable than ever. Social distancing, health concerns, disrupted supply chains, and operating costs all have businesses worried.
We need to learn to not just survive, but thrive in this remade world — and your idea is part of that.
By AI automation, I mean such hard tech ideas as AI optimization — like hyperparameter tuning, Bayesian optimization, improved machine learning through Bayesian networks — and of course everything that’s useful for navigation of robots and self-driving cars, like Kalman filters.
But how do you know how much your AI automation idea is worth? How can you know its true value? How do you know if it can, in fact, become profitable?
It’s difficult to assign value to an idea, but that’s what investors do all the time — and here’s why you should do it too.
Why you need to know how much your idea is worth
It’s one thing to develop a revolutionary idea but it’s a completely different thing to turn it into a successful company. More often than not, entrepreneurs rely solely on the uniqueness of their idea, without understanding its actual market value.
This is a huge disadvantage even to the most passionate entrepreneurs — especially when you need to raise money.
Knowing how your idea fits into your market and how valuable your idea is, is critical at all stages of your business — not just entry and exit. You could, otherwise, be leaving millions on the table and not even know it.
There are four key benefits of knowing how much your idea is worth:
Prove to investors you’ve thoughtfully evaluated your market position
Win investor confidence with a verified concept valuation
Increase your likelihood of securing funding, partnerships, and additional resources
Create leverage for negotiating acquisition and licensing terms
90% of investors will not fund ideas without proper valuation. You’re already ahead of your competition by knowing how much your idea is worth!
What if I don’t want to raise money?
Only through a proper concept valuation can you know from the beginning if your idea is valuable and what that value is — super useful, even beyond raising capital.
For example, it can help you decide if you want to bootstrap. Lots of businesses want to have total control over their decisions, without investors or relying on external sources for their income.
Once you know the value of your idea, you can determine if it’s worth pursuing.
An idea is pretty much worthless if you don’t know if there’s a market for it or if your current business plan can even see it through. Having a serious idea valuation for your idea can give you the assurance you need to know that you’re working on the right concept with the right execution.
Plus, once you know for sure how much your idea is worth and you have actual proof, it becomes a real thing — it becomes an asset.
Get your special idea valuation report!
Ready to know how much your idea is worth? Get more information about our valuation process.
How to know how much your idea is worth
I often find it’s difficult for innovators and entrepreneurs to really know how much their business idea is worth, and that’s ok. There’s usually a lack of experience, an unrealistic approach, and biased judgment.
It takes a lot of experience and a clear eye to be objective about a business idea.
If you turn to Google to find out how much your idea is worth, you’ll find lots of articles and guides. Some will tell you that you’re worth what investors say you’re worth, to determine your future profitability, and others will tell you to measure your business idea according to other similar ideas… as if your idea wasn’t unique!
Using generic information to determine the value of your business idea isn’t a good strategy. Knowing for sure how much your business idea is worth is critical for your success.
There are a few valuation methods that we use for ideas that are at a very early stage — before sales and even before development. Both ideas rely on determining how new and inventive your idea is.
Why? Because we use the potential value of your patent — and how big a market niche it can secure.
Patents — why they’re valuable
Patents protect your right to block others from using your idea - making, selling, offering for sale, buying, importing, exporting, etc.
The more new and inventive your idea is, the greater territory you can block off with your patent. We use various calculations to determine the value of that blocked off territory — blocked off just for you — based on the potential market that it represents.
We have to run lots of calculations for this to work. In particular, we have to:
Run a search through existing patents and computational articles
Compare your idea with all relevant findings from our search
Determine how new and inventive the idea is, according to this comparison
Analyze your market niche, to see how much is potentially blocked by your idea
Calculate the value of your patent
It’s a lot of work — but it’s a great way to understand how much your idea is worth before you even start building it.
But that looks really complicated!
Here’s the good news.
Having worked with innovators for over two decades, we know innovation when we see it and we have the experience and the tools to determine an idea’s real value.
We’re not only able to see your idea’s potential, but we can also give you the help you need to leverage it. We understand both the business and the in-depth technology of AI automation.
We’re uniquely placed to determine both your market position and your concept value with our Idea Valuation Package.
Our valuation methods have been validated by industry experts and have earned hundreds of millions in investment. We know what we’re talking about!
Our Idea Valuation Package contains precise, comprehensive information and includes:
Analysis of your core idea and business model
Market evaluation and pivot analysis with recommendations
Intellectual Property Protection Plan
Conference call with up to three of your investors to explain how your IP strategy increases your valuation
Comprehensive written report and written assessment of the valuation
The Investor Readiness Package provides the tools and information you need to grow your business!
What to do next
No matter where you are in developing your AI automation idea, your decision to pursue an idea shouldn’t be based on a hunch.
Having led more than half a dozen startups myself, and advised hundreds of others, I can safely say that one of the first steps should always be an idea concept valuation with careful consideration.
You should be able to determine how unique your idea really is, what its potential for impact is, and how and why you’re uniquely qualified to turn it into a reality.
Before you open your doors, launch your app, or create your e-commerce website, you need to make sure you’ll be able to acquire funding, attract real, paying customers, and sustain your costs while making a profit.
If you’ve done everything you can to vet your idea, you’ll be that much better positioned to power through when the going gets tough.
Find out more about our Idea Valuation Package or Schedule a call with us if you have any questions.
Information is power, and we’re here to help you use it to your advantage!