As a start-up, keep your freedom to pivot without destroying value and losing your priority by using provisional patents, says West Coast VC Eugene Shteyn

As a start-up, it’s certain you will pivot. You will always come across unknowns in scoping out a market. Like other venture capitalists, however, Eugene Shteyn’s first instinct is to cringe when he hears that’s start-up what is going to do.

‘The business of innovation is inherently uncertain. Often it like a swamp,’ he says. ‘Everything is unstable. You can’t be sure how it is going to turn out. So you’re trying to probe for where the firm ground is for your next step.’