We've seen invention companies turn into patent trolls. The latest example - a shell company built around the Nortel patents - is a classic case. A telecom comp

We've seen invention companies turn into patent trolls. The latest example - a shell company built around the Nortel patents - is a classic case. A telecom company, where it should be easy to sell inventions to upper management, went bankrupt by refusing to innovate. (I know there are other reasons Nortel is dead, I apologize for the simplification.) I don't believe anyone has ever seen a patent troll "turn from the dark side." It's not just cynicism: a company whose business plan is "aggressively pursue patent licenses" has a fiduciary responsibility to stakeholders to stay the course. It's easier to drive a company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy than convince a majority of stakeholders to unite, pivot, and abandon their cash cow. The easiest way to defeat patent trolls is to succeed as a startup.