Calculating For Ideas And Intellectual Property
There are two ways to reward Grunts for business-enabling ideas
and related Intellectual property: The first is to calculate the
theoretical value of the idea and the second is to provide an
ongoing royalty payment (cash or pie) to the inventor.
It's important to remember that ideas without action are relatively
valueless, no matter how good the idea is. In the start-up world, a
dozen ideas will cost about a dime, less the cost of the lunch over
which the ideas were generated. Generally, ideas should not be
taken into account in a Grunt Fund unless they fit the following
criteria:
- The idea must have existed before the inception of the business
- The idea must be original
- The idea must be non-obvious
- The idea must be "baked" as opposed to "half-baked".
A "baked" idea often comes in the form of a polished concept, a thoughtful business model or legal protection. They require insight, experience and creativity. Baked ideas usually represent the investment of considerable time and money and are often business enablers. This guide, for example, is baked.
Ideas that fit the above criteria have value that should be taken into account. Ideas developed during the regular course of business, however, would not be taken into account no matter how good the idea is. It's the nature of business to generate new, good ideas and it is part of the job of a Grunt to come up with the most awe-inspiring new idea that ever existed.
If the idea is well documented and baked the value is set equal to the amount of time it took to bake the idea times the originator's GHRR plus the costs of any research or legal protection.
So, if I spend 500 hours developing a business plan around my idea, 200 hours writing and researching a patent and $10,000 hiring a lawyer to file my patent then the idea would be with 700 x my GHRR plus $10,000 or $80,000.
