Michael D. Moberly is a business intangible asset strategist and risk mitigator. This post is one of 1,200+ researched, written, and published at the Business Intangible Asset Blog by Mr. Moberly. At kpstrat.com readers can find various papers and a book authored by Mr. Moberly on matters related to business’s ‘mission essential’ intangible assets. Subject matters include proprietary development, treatment, safeguards, risk mitigation, strategy, valuation, reputation, misappropriation, and infringement, etc.
Readers need not look far to discover numerous examples of investments in early-stage R&D businesses, that for various reasons ‘went South’ and delivered either no or perhaps minimal ROI.
I find that some of the usual methods – strategies investors rely-apply for the all-important commitment of capital to an early-stage (R&D dependent-reliant) business, characterize the R&D in broad, undifferentiated contexts, i.e., conclusive culminations.
Portraying early-stage R&D in this manner can lead to the most valuable, foundational, competitive advantage, and commercial-izable components undifferentiated and under-appreciated contributors to commercialization strategy and objectives.
Portraying early-stage R&D in this manner can lead to the most valuable, foundational, competitive advantage, and commercial-izable components undifferentiated and under-appreciated contributors to commercialization strategy and objectives.
Oversights, like this, can render ‘investment essential’ intangible assets more receptive and vulnerable to momentum stifling and strategically disruptive challenges and/or risks.
Now investors are obliged to recognize that challenges – risks to investment essential intangible assets can materialize at the nefarious will, shouts, and timing of others, globally.
In other words, undermining – stifling investments in early-stage R&D dependent businesses may not only be influenced by commercialization forecasts and appeal of innovative (game changing) products, services, or efficiencies.
Each investor and investment is now obliged to unravel, measure and monitor the contributory roles and value adds that are produced by – stem from various forms, contexts, and applications of unique, often proprietary, and certainly valuable intangible assets, particularly…
- intellectual capital (knowledge, knowhow).
- structural capital (processes, procedures), and
- relationship capital (associations, alliances) routinely embedded in R&D
Recognizing the importance of differentiating each of the above and incorporating the distinctions as ‘investment essential’ brings much needed awareness to and strategy for mitigating probable challenges and/or risks which, should either occur, can adversely affect ROI. Unequivocally, moderating – mitigating vulnerability, probability, and critically of challenges and risks to ‘investment essential’ intangible assets is always a good thing.
So too is recognizing that the development, contributory roles, and value adds produced by R&D’s foundational and investment essential intellectual, structural, and relationship capital at the right time, in the right way, at the right cost, can elevate – sustain commercial and competitive advantages attributable to most forms of innovation, that I am familiar over several decades.
Conveying dismissiveness to these ‘investment essentials and principles, perhaps in favor of or loyalty to a time-honored or dated practice, may periodically serve investors as hoped.
Too, overlooking or dismissing ‘investment essential’ intangible assets can elevate, if not attract challenges and risks to materialize asymmetrically, at the will and timing of others globally, and intended to stifle, detract, misinform, depreciate, and undermine.
Otherwise, acknowledging ‘investment essentials’ as (fiduciary) obligations to appreciate why, how, when, which, and where unraveling, safeguarding, and mitigating risks and challenges to ‘investment essential’ intangible assets, will consistently benefit investors and investments.
Again, investors need not look far to find numerous, current, and relevant examples of investments in early-stage and R&D dependent businesses, go south. As I describe here, investors – investments which differentiate the foundational intangible assets in play are more likely to go north, not south.
My interests in and rationale for drawing business leaders and investors’ attention to ‘investment essential’ intangible assets is that today, and for the foreseeable future, most businesses irrespective of size, sector, stage, sales, maturation, location, valuation, revenue generation capability, and reputation; their innovations, products, services and operating culture, etc., are irreversibly intangible asset intensive, dependent, and reliant.
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